Saleh al Shaibany
Foreign Correspondent
* Last Updated: November 22. 2009 8:19PM UAE / November 22. 2009 4:19PM GMT
MUSCAT // Nasra al Mukhaini, 38, a widow for the past 18 months, has found that life without her husband of 16 years is even more difficult than she could have imagined.
He left her with three young children and, with no formal education, Ms al Mukhaini cannot find a job to support her family. They survive from the financial support of her two brothers.
“My brothers have their own families and they can’t spare much. They also are under a lot of pressure from their wives because my children and I are extra mouths to feed,” said Ms al Mukhaini , whose husband, who died at the age of 42, was a mechanic for an automobile dealership.
Many Omani widows struggle to lead happy lives after losing their husbands in a society that treats them as a burden and bad luck. Most widows struggle to cope with their grief, and few are able to find second husbands and build new lives.
According to a local superstition, anyone they marry is destined to die a premature death.
Women’s rights activists say the superstition is contrary to Islamic teaching, but is kept alive by men who do not want to be saddled with orphaned children and by women reluctant to share their husbands with second wives. “It is a stupid tradition, started by men who see orphaned children as a burden. Islam encourages men to marry widows to shelter them and protect them from loose tongues,” Ms al Mukhaini said.
In the Qur’an, Muslim men are allowed to marry four wives, and one of the reasons given is to help provide a new life for widowed women.
Widows in Oman also become the victim of gossip by other women whenever they interact with men.
“They sometimes get labelled as men grabbers if they get friendly with the opposite sex, just because they are available. These women don’t understand that being available does not mean a widow is on the lookout to get married to any man she makes contact with,” Ms al Mukhaini said.
Many young widows also find that their friends often abandon them after the deaths of their husbands. With no friends, their social lives become severely restricted.
“Jealous wives would never invite young and pretty widows to their houses. We are kept away from their husbands. They see us as a threat to their marriages. Of course, their fear is unfounded, but these girls suddenly find that they need to protect their marriages,” Sabiha Malik, 29, said.
Ms Malik’s husband died three years ago, leaving her with two children but no financial problems. She is a business graduate with a well-paying job and is able to support her young family.
“Perhaps a widow like me can be spared from financial problems, but there is no escaping the prejudice of the society. No one likes to admit it, but we are treated like social outcasts; it’s all smiles in front, but frowns behind your back,” Ms Malik said.
According to Ms al Mukhaini, widows are rarely invited to weddings, which are the main social gatherings of the year in Oman and a chance to get out of the house and spend time with family and friends.
“If you do [invite them], then bad luck would descend on the newlyweds. At worst, the bride will also become a widow, as if widowhood is a contamination that can be passed on. You can see the scale of the problem a widow has to face,” Ms al Mukhaini said.
Ms Malik called for social reforms and a change of attitude to eliminate misconceptions about widows.
“It is about time we change. I know it is difficult, but it can be done through symposiums backed by the media. But more widows must come forward to support the cause because most of them prefer to suffer silently. The bad luck associated with us is just part of a cruel tradition, started centuries ago. It is un-Islamic, too,” Ms Malik said.
According to the Qur’an, widows cannot marry again immediately but must wait four months and 10 days after the death of their husbands. The period is called iddah and its purpose is to establish whether the widow is pregnant or not to avoid confusion over who the father is if she gets married again. It is also to protect women from rushing to another marriage while they are emotionally vulnerable in the period of mourning.
Widows who have romantic relationships outside of marriage defend themselves and blame the communities they live in.
“We have biological needs and if we can’t get husbands, then who could blame us?” a widow who identified herself only as Salma said.
Some Omani widows marry foreign men after failing to find suitors from among their compatriots. “Younger widows marrying foreigners is a more popular option and a solution to their matrimonial problem,” Salma added.
But Salma said the call on tolerance from society to ease the suffering of widows hinges on educated women who have lost their husbands, like Sabiha Malik.
“Oman is not the place where women’s voices are heard easily. It will take time to be embraced by society. However, educated women can start the movement now by having roadshows, seminars and television talk shows to change that,” Salma said.
Source The National: Widows of Oman call for end to prejudice
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Omanis count cost of funds fraud
MUSCAT // When each of the 20 people were swindled out of 1,500 rials (Dh14,300) by a jomeea financing scheme, they had no option but to report the “crime” to the police. Even before they made the complaint, they knew they had little hope of getting their money back.
Jomeea is a tradition practised in Omani communities to raise funds for individuals to finance the purchase of a property, such as a farm, or the construction of a house. Each member of the jomeea, on a rotational basis, collects a fixed amount of money from the other members each month.
Members in a jomeea group can be as few as five but regularly number more than 30. The amount of money changing hands ranges from 50 rials to 2,000 rials a month, depending on the financial status of participants. Each member receives the amount he contributed when his turn comes. The person receiving the money continues to contribute until the round ends.
Jomeeas are completely legal, though susceptible to dishonest members, and frowned upon by bankers here.
Hundreds of people across the country have been swindled over the years, but there are no statistics because the jomeea is not an officially sanctioned practice and the government has repeatedly said it does not get involved in private financial arrangements. The Central Bank of Oman, in a recent statement, refused to regulate the practice, saying it was an arrangement incompatible with standard international financial practices.
For Mohammed Shaikhan, 36, a mechanical engineer, the jomeea due would have been 28,500 rials with which he planned to partly finance his house in Muscat. Mr Shaikhan said a member of his jomeea left the country for Africa after collecting the money in his round – and never returned.
“The man just disappeared with our money and we believe he is out of the country. I suspect he is somewhere in Africa, where he cannot be found,” Mr Sheikhan said. “It is embarrassing to talk about it that 20 people can be swindled by a seemingly nice man.”
Mr Shaikhan and his friends’ case was rejected by the court since there was nothing in writing about the arrangement. The judge said that the matter “must be solved amicably between the concerned members of the jomeea, like it always has been over the years”.
They are not the only ones whose cases have been rejected by the courts. Cheated people do not usually talk about their predicament because of the shame.
In rare circumstances, courts have convicted people for defrauding their jomeea partners. Laila Moosawi, a nurse, who was swindled out of more than 3,200 rials by a jomeea, said she and other members successfully prosecuted the man responsible for the crime, but she did not see a penny of her investment.
“Though we had nothing in writing between us, we paid by cheques and the bank easily traced the money in his account when it was his turn to receive the cash. We managed to put him in prison on that basis. It helped because he was in the country and admitted what he had done,” Mrs Moosawi said. “We did not get our money because the criminal said that he spent it. Though we had the satisfaction of seeing him get a two-year sentence, we are severely short of cash. The man will come out eventually from jail to spend the 16,000 rials.”
The man said he spent it, although it is possible he had secreted it away. Failure to pay back the money factored into his sentence.
In many instances of jomeea fraud, swindlers stop paying once they receive their portion of the money and either disappear or cook up stories of their houses being burgled.
Despite the risk involved, jomeea financing remains prevalent.
“Taking a bank loan, according to Islam is haram [forbidden] because of the reebah [interest]. Jomeea offers people interest-free financing, which gives them assurance that the money they receive is not tainted with usury,” Jalil al Badai, a tribal elder, said.
There are no Islamic banks in Oman. Deeply religious Omanis decline interest on their savings and give instructions to their bank managers that the interest be given to charity. They almost never take bank loans, and this is why the practice survives.
Not all people who participate in a jomeea group join because of their religiosity. Some do it to avoid paying steep interest on bank loans. Omani banks at the moment charge up to eight per cent interest per year.
Mr al Badai has written to the Central Bank for jomeea financing to be recognised by the government and regulated by its financial laws. He has not given up hope that the government will one day regulate jomeea.
“This is not Islamic finance nor is it the conventional western one that we see being practised. Jomeea is an Omani tradition to raise money for the community. It has been practised for centuries and only in the last 10 years do we see people with bad intentions joining. I think the Central Bank must play its role to encourage this tradition from going out of extinction,” Mr al Badai said.
Financial analysts said the local banks’ shareholders saw jomeea as a threat to their business, and some believe that this was the reason it would never be regulated.
“If jomeea is accepted and regulated by the government, then that may well restrict the profitability of the local banks in the long run,” Jassim Battash, a financial analyst with Seeb Investment Services, said.
According to Central Bank statistics, more than 70 per cent of the credit sanctioned by local banks are classified as personal loans.
Reproduced from The National: Omanis count cost of funds fraud
Jomeea is a tradition practised in Omani communities to raise funds for individuals to finance the purchase of a property, such as a farm, or the construction of a house. Each member of the jomeea, on a rotational basis, collects a fixed amount of money from the other members each month.
Members in a jomeea group can be as few as five but regularly number more than 30. The amount of money changing hands ranges from 50 rials to 2,000 rials a month, depending on the financial status of participants. Each member receives the amount he contributed when his turn comes. The person receiving the money continues to contribute until the round ends.
Jomeeas are completely legal, though susceptible to dishonest members, and frowned upon by bankers here.
Hundreds of people across the country have been swindled over the years, but there are no statistics because the jomeea is not an officially sanctioned practice and the government has repeatedly said it does not get involved in private financial arrangements. The Central Bank of Oman, in a recent statement, refused to regulate the practice, saying it was an arrangement incompatible with standard international financial practices.
For Mohammed Shaikhan, 36, a mechanical engineer, the jomeea due would have been 28,500 rials with which he planned to partly finance his house in Muscat. Mr Shaikhan said a member of his jomeea left the country for Africa after collecting the money in his round – and never returned.
“The man just disappeared with our money and we believe he is out of the country. I suspect he is somewhere in Africa, where he cannot be found,” Mr Sheikhan said. “It is embarrassing to talk about it that 20 people can be swindled by a seemingly nice man.”
Mr Shaikhan and his friends’ case was rejected by the court since there was nothing in writing about the arrangement. The judge said that the matter “must be solved amicably between the concerned members of the jomeea, like it always has been over the years”.
They are not the only ones whose cases have been rejected by the courts. Cheated people do not usually talk about their predicament because of the shame.
In rare circumstances, courts have convicted people for defrauding their jomeea partners. Laila Moosawi, a nurse, who was swindled out of more than 3,200 rials by a jomeea, said she and other members successfully prosecuted the man responsible for the crime, but she did not see a penny of her investment.
“Though we had nothing in writing between us, we paid by cheques and the bank easily traced the money in his account when it was his turn to receive the cash. We managed to put him in prison on that basis. It helped because he was in the country and admitted what he had done,” Mrs Moosawi said. “We did not get our money because the criminal said that he spent it. Though we had the satisfaction of seeing him get a two-year sentence, we are severely short of cash. The man will come out eventually from jail to spend the 16,000 rials.”
The man said he spent it, although it is possible he had secreted it away. Failure to pay back the money factored into his sentence.
In many instances of jomeea fraud, swindlers stop paying once they receive their portion of the money and either disappear or cook up stories of their houses being burgled.
Despite the risk involved, jomeea financing remains prevalent.
“Taking a bank loan, according to Islam is haram [forbidden] because of the reebah [interest]. Jomeea offers people interest-free financing, which gives them assurance that the money they receive is not tainted with usury,” Jalil al Badai, a tribal elder, said.
There are no Islamic banks in Oman. Deeply religious Omanis decline interest on their savings and give instructions to their bank managers that the interest be given to charity. They almost never take bank loans, and this is why the practice survives.
Not all people who participate in a jomeea group join because of their religiosity. Some do it to avoid paying steep interest on bank loans. Omani banks at the moment charge up to eight per cent interest per year.
Mr al Badai has written to the Central Bank for jomeea financing to be recognised by the government and regulated by its financial laws. He has not given up hope that the government will one day regulate jomeea.
“This is not Islamic finance nor is it the conventional western one that we see being practised. Jomeea is an Omani tradition to raise money for the community. It has been practised for centuries and only in the last 10 years do we see people with bad intentions joining. I think the Central Bank must play its role to encourage this tradition from going out of extinction,” Mr al Badai said.
Financial analysts said the local banks’ shareholders saw jomeea as a threat to their business, and some believe that this was the reason it would never be regulated.
“If jomeea is accepted and regulated by the government, then that may well restrict the profitability of the local banks in the long run,” Jassim Battash, a financial analyst with Seeb Investment Services, said.
According to Central Bank statistics, more than 70 per cent of the credit sanctioned by local banks are classified as personal loans.
Reproduced from The National: Omanis count cost of funds fraud
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
MUSCAT — A new library at the Oriental Studies Institute in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent will be built with funds provided by the government of Oman, according to an agreement signed between the two countries on Monday, the second and final day of an official visit here by Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan.
The ‘Abu Alraihan Albairuni’ library will house more than 26,000 manuscripts, 85,000 historical messages, most of them in the Turkish, Uzbek and Farsi languages, as wells as 10,000 manuscripts in Arabic, currently in the possession of the institute.
Most of these rare documents date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. UNESCO has listed them in its World Heritage List as there are no similar copies anywhere else in the world.
The accord was signed by National Economy Minister of Oman Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki and Vladir Norov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
Several other deals were also concluded between the two countries including regularising air transportation and to promote cooperation in tourism.
The two leaders, during the meetings, also exchanged views on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, an official statement said.
Source: Khaleej Times: Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
The ‘Abu Alraihan Albairuni’ library will house more than 26,000 manuscripts, 85,000 historical messages, most of them in the Turkish, Uzbek and Farsi languages, as wells as 10,000 manuscripts in Arabic, currently in the possession of the institute.
Most of these rare documents date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. UNESCO has listed them in its World Heritage List as there are no similar copies anywhere else in the world.
The accord was signed by National Economy Minister of Oman Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki and Vladir Norov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
Several other deals were also concluded between the two countries including regularising air transportation and to promote cooperation in tourism.
The two leaders, during the meetings, also exchanged views on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, an official statement said.
Source: Khaleej Times: Oman to Fund a New Library in Uzbekistan
Monday, 5 October 2009
Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
SAMAIL, OMAN // Historians are urging Oman to include privately owned ruins, crumbling in rural areas, in the government’s preservation programme to stop the erosion of the country’s heritage.
The sultanate spends 25 million rials (Dh249.5m) a year renovating and maintaining such historical buildings as forts, mosques and watchtowers all over the country, but the programme does not include privately owned buildings in abandoned villages.
In towns like Tanuf, Bid Bid and Barakat Mawz in the Al-Dakhaliya region, as well as towns in Dhofar, some ruined buildings lie in isolation, abandoned by descendents now living in modern villas.
Most of them are severly damaged, and if they disappear, so will the last glimpse of Oman’s rich heritage.
Historians say some of the ruins are 700 years old and were occupied by noted Omanis who shaped the history of the country.
“These houses were occupied by dignitaries of the areas and preserving them will help make the residents proud of their heritages,” Mohammed al Siyabi, a historian based in Samail, a small town about 150km from Muscat, said.
“The government should not allow them to crumble just because they are owned by the descendants of the previous owners. If they go, then a large chunk of our heritage goes as well.”
By way of example, Mr al Siyabi cited the houses of Ahmed bin Majid and Ahmad bin Naaman that are now lost forever. Bin Majid was a sailor who helped Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, find his way from Africa to India in 1499.
Bin Naaman was the first Arab envoy sent on a goodwill journey to the United States, in 1833 by the sultan of Oman.
But government officials said the preservation programme managed by the ministry of national heritage and culture did not have the jurisdiction of renovating privately owned houses.
“We only manage the state-owned old buildings and we cannot interfere with private areas no matter how old they are unless the owners of these ruins are willing to hand over the ownership to the government.
“We cannot spend state money to renovate private houses,” Said al Farsi, the head of the ministry’s planning unit, said.
In Nizwa, just 400 metres from the foot of the massive citadel built in the 17th century by former rulers of Oman, are ruins that, according to one of the descendants of the houses, were inhabited by the town’s traders 500 years ago. They say the ruins are the reason the Al-Ya’arubi imams built the fort because of the thriving trade of the time.
“One of the ruins was a home of my family for six generations. The last of the inhabitants moved out just 30 years ago when it was too uneconomical to maintain the houses. That was the beginning of the decay and abandonment of the village,” Salim Yousuf, a 71-year-old silversmith in Nizwa, said.
Some observers are questioning how people like Mr Yousuf could afford to build modern two-storey villas just a kilometre away from the old ruins but do not have the money to repair the homes of their ancestors.
“The majority of these people are either well-to-do businessmen or well-paid civil servants who prefer to live in luxury rather than in cramped and ancient little houses.
“They can afford to repair their ancestral homes but want government grants to do it for them. They would rather watch local history crumbling down than spend their money,” said Khamis Fraish, a retired gatekeeper of the Bibi Maryam mausoleum at Qalhat, a town near Sur, in the Eastern region.
Some companies help the preservations of local ruins, such as the mausoleum, a site that does not fall under the government grant nor is claimed by any private owner.
“Out of a social responsibility programme, we donated money for the repair of this mausoleum because we produce gas from the town and we would like the locals to be proud of their heritage.
“But we don’t do the privately owned ruins for obvious reasons,” Nasser al Kindy, head of corporate communications of Qalhat LNG, said.
salshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
The sultanate spends 25 million rials (Dh249.5m) a year renovating and maintaining such historical buildings as forts, mosques and watchtowers all over the country, but the programme does not include privately owned buildings in abandoned villages.
In towns like Tanuf, Bid Bid and Barakat Mawz in the Al-Dakhaliya region, as well as towns in Dhofar, some ruined buildings lie in isolation, abandoned by descendents now living in modern villas.
Most of them are severly damaged, and if they disappear, so will the last glimpse of Oman’s rich heritage.
Historians say some of the ruins are 700 years old and were occupied by noted Omanis who shaped the history of the country.
“These houses were occupied by dignitaries of the areas and preserving them will help make the residents proud of their heritages,” Mohammed al Siyabi, a historian based in Samail, a small town about 150km from Muscat, said.
“The government should not allow them to crumble just because they are owned by the descendants of the previous owners. If they go, then a large chunk of our heritage goes as well.”
By way of example, Mr al Siyabi cited the houses of Ahmed bin Majid and Ahmad bin Naaman that are now lost forever. Bin Majid was a sailor who helped Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, find his way from Africa to India in 1499.
Bin Naaman was the first Arab envoy sent on a goodwill journey to the United States, in 1833 by the sultan of Oman.
But government officials said the preservation programme managed by the ministry of national heritage and culture did not have the jurisdiction of renovating privately owned houses.
“We only manage the state-owned old buildings and we cannot interfere with private areas no matter how old they are unless the owners of these ruins are willing to hand over the ownership to the government.
“We cannot spend state money to renovate private houses,” Said al Farsi, the head of the ministry’s planning unit, said.
In Nizwa, just 400 metres from the foot of the massive citadel built in the 17th century by former rulers of Oman, are ruins that, according to one of the descendants of the houses, were inhabited by the town’s traders 500 years ago. They say the ruins are the reason the Al-Ya’arubi imams built the fort because of the thriving trade of the time.
“One of the ruins was a home of my family for six generations. The last of the inhabitants moved out just 30 years ago when it was too uneconomical to maintain the houses. That was the beginning of the decay and abandonment of the village,” Salim Yousuf, a 71-year-old silversmith in Nizwa, said.
Some observers are questioning how people like Mr Yousuf could afford to build modern two-storey villas just a kilometre away from the old ruins but do not have the money to repair the homes of their ancestors.
“The majority of these people are either well-to-do businessmen or well-paid civil servants who prefer to live in luxury rather than in cramped and ancient little houses.
“They can afford to repair their ancestral homes but want government grants to do it for them. They would rather watch local history crumbling down than spend their money,” said Khamis Fraish, a retired gatekeeper of the Bibi Maryam mausoleum at Qalhat, a town near Sur, in the Eastern region.
Some companies help the preservations of local ruins, such as the mausoleum, a site that does not fall under the government grant nor is claimed by any private owner.
“Out of a social responsibility programme, we donated money for the repair of this mausoleum because we produce gas from the town and we would like the locals to be proud of their heritage.
“But we don’t do the privately owned ruins for obvious reasons,” Nasser al Kindy, head of corporate communications of Qalhat LNG, said.
salshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Oman urged to preserve its crumbling old houses
Friday, 2 October 2009
Love is the tender trap in Oman
MUSCAT // It should be the happiest day of their lives but for many young Omani couples the custom of paying exorbitant dowries is placing their marriages under huge financial strain and leading to a growing number of unmarried women.
Across the Gulf, bride’s families receive money from the groom’s family, but in Oman the dowry sums can be as high as 10,000 rials (Dh96,000) in cash. The brides also expect to receive expensive jewellery that costs thousands more and, in most instances, a lavish ceremony that lasts several days.
“It is not right. It is time we break this bad habit because it works out negatively in our society,” said Fatma Fallahy, a 74-year-old marriage counsellor. “It is just pure greed that has got nothing to do with our tradition or religion. It also ruins the prospective marriages of many young people.”
One Omani man said that it cost him nearly 20,000 rials to marry his college sweetheart, money that would have moved them out of a rented accommodation and helped pay for their own house.
“By the time I paid the dowry, the five-star hotel’s reception cost, traditional ceremonies and gifts, I ... used up almost all my savings,” said Rashid al Habsi, a computer software engineer. “The message from my father-in-law at the time was: ‘you want her, then you pay for her’, but the money ended our dreams of owning a house for many years to come.”
Some men take crippling loans from banks to finance marriages they cannot afford so they can be with the women they love. More well-off families tend to help the grooms with the payments. In extreme cases, such marriages end in matrimonial disaster.
“My brother’s marriage ended just a year and a half later from both the financial constraint of running a family and blaming his father-in-law for putting them in a dire condition,” Mr al Habsi added.
Matchmakers, who are still used by most Omanis, say some men avoid marrying their compatriots, preferring low-cost weddings with foreign women.
“It is getting popular and the number is growing,” said Rahila Saif, a Muscat-based matchmaker. “They get married to Indian, Pakistani, Filipino and European women, and who can blame them? They get a fair bargain while our women struggle with local suitors.”
The number of unmarried women in Oman is growing. Although the government does not keep statistics, thirty years ago the age of marriage for women was between 18 and 22. Now, Mrs Saif said, women in their mid thirties are still looking for husbands.
The potential bride’s father usually sets the dowry fee when he wants to finance an expensive purchase or simply boost his bank balance, turning daughters into costly commodities. In villages, the most common purchase with dowry money is a farm, and in cities a property that can provide an income from rent.
“In some cases I know, fathers of the brides even buy bonds or invest the money in shares, things as ridiculous as that,” said Nasser al Khaboori, a Muscat-based investment banker. “They don’t really care that while they enrich themselves, they give their daughters and sons-in-laws a bad start to their marriage by cutting down their financial resources.”
Some women know nothing about their future husbands and are forced to marry by fathers eager to cash in.
Such marriages, which are usually practised in villages, involve much older men giving marriage proposals to the father, who chooses a groom for his daughter from the highest bidder.
“[It is] just like a goat auction. These men treat their daughters as livestock rather than humans,” Mr Khaboori said.
Fathers who demand huge dowries defend themselves by claiming the payment is their right.
“I have spent thousands for the upkeep of my children and I need a little compensation.” said Hamdani al Mansoori, a 66-year-old retired civil servant who married off three daughters at an average dowry of 4,500 rials each. “Besides, who says marriages are cheap? A man looking for a wife needs to prove his financial standing before making a proposal,” he said.
Mr Mansoori, who lives in Muscat, said he used the money to help buy a property from which the rent augments his pension.
sshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Love is the tender trap in Oman
Across the Gulf, bride’s families receive money from the groom’s family, but in Oman the dowry sums can be as high as 10,000 rials (Dh96,000) in cash. The brides also expect to receive expensive jewellery that costs thousands more and, in most instances, a lavish ceremony that lasts several days.
“It is not right. It is time we break this bad habit because it works out negatively in our society,” said Fatma Fallahy, a 74-year-old marriage counsellor. “It is just pure greed that has got nothing to do with our tradition or religion. It also ruins the prospective marriages of many young people.”
One Omani man said that it cost him nearly 20,000 rials to marry his college sweetheart, money that would have moved them out of a rented accommodation and helped pay for their own house.
“By the time I paid the dowry, the five-star hotel’s reception cost, traditional ceremonies and gifts, I ... used up almost all my savings,” said Rashid al Habsi, a computer software engineer. “The message from my father-in-law at the time was: ‘you want her, then you pay for her’, but the money ended our dreams of owning a house for many years to come.”
Some men take crippling loans from banks to finance marriages they cannot afford so they can be with the women they love. More well-off families tend to help the grooms with the payments. In extreme cases, such marriages end in matrimonial disaster.
“My brother’s marriage ended just a year and a half later from both the financial constraint of running a family and blaming his father-in-law for putting them in a dire condition,” Mr al Habsi added.
Matchmakers, who are still used by most Omanis, say some men avoid marrying their compatriots, preferring low-cost weddings with foreign women.
“It is getting popular and the number is growing,” said Rahila Saif, a Muscat-based matchmaker. “They get married to Indian, Pakistani, Filipino and European women, and who can blame them? They get a fair bargain while our women struggle with local suitors.”
The number of unmarried women in Oman is growing. Although the government does not keep statistics, thirty years ago the age of marriage for women was between 18 and 22. Now, Mrs Saif said, women in their mid thirties are still looking for husbands.
The potential bride’s father usually sets the dowry fee when he wants to finance an expensive purchase or simply boost his bank balance, turning daughters into costly commodities. In villages, the most common purchase with dowry money is a farm, and in cities a property that can provide an income from rent.
“In some cases I know, fathers of the brides even buy bonds or invest the money in shares, things as ridiculous as that,” said Nasser al Khaboori, a Muscat-based investment banker. “They don’t really care that while they enrich themselves, they give their daughters and sons-in-laws a bad start to their marriage by cutting down their financial resources.”
Some women know nothing about their future husbands and are forced to marry by fathers eager to cash in.
Such marriages, which are usually practised in villages, involve much older men giving marriage proposals to the father, who chooses a groom for his daughter from the highest bidder.
“[It is] just like a goat auction. These men treat their daughters as livestock rather than humans,” Mr Khaboori said.
Fathers who demand huge dowries defend themselves by claiming the payment is their right.
“I have spent thousands for the upkeep of my children and I need a little compensation.” said Hamdani al Mansoori, a 66-year-old retired civil servant who married off three daughters at an average dowry of 4,500 rials each. “Besides, who says marriages are cheap? A man looking for a wife needs to prove his financial standing before making a proposal,” he said.
Mr Mansoori, who lives in Muscat, said he used the money to help buy a property from which the rent augments his pension.
sshaibany@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Love is the tender trap in Oman
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
MUSCAT // Women from Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, many of them covered from head to toe in black abayas, approach cars and people at petrol stations, ATMs, shopping malls and even knock on the doors of private houses to beg for money.
Some of them cradle babies with tears in their eyes asking for compassion from “fellow Muslims” for help, pleading that the infants are orphans whose fathers were killed during the occupation of their countries.
“We are the victims of the American injustice who made our children fatherless and we have nowhere to go but come here,” begged one Afghan woman named Zulekha, standing outside a shopping mall.
Observers say that many times, the begging women refuse to accept small amounts of money, which is increasing resentment among locals, raising questions about whether they are genuine and in real need.
“Genuine poor people accept whatever they can get. I think they are fakes and scroungers who are looking to take advantage of our conscience. We should not give them anything since that will encourage more of them to come here,” Ahmed al Raisy, a security guard at the Lulu shopping mall, said.
The beggars are part of a racket organised in the host countries by people paying the beggars’ travelling expenses, some local expatriates claim.
But other residents disagree. “These women have no other choice but to leave their countries since they live in appalling conditions with no one to depend on after the deaths of their husbands during conflicts in places like Iraq and Palestine,” said Hussain Abdulrasool, an Iraqi expatriate in Oman. “Oman is one of the prime targets because it is easy to get a visa for Arab nationals and its people are much more tolerant than in other GCC countries.”
Some expatriates, however, blame their own for the appearance of the aggressive beggars, saying that they send their wives out to beg and make them wear veils to conceal their identities and increase their income.
“I know for a fact, one or two of my fellow expatriates, out of pure greed, have their own wives beg in the streets to increase their income. It is a shameful practice but it is the truth,” Abdullah Khaliq, an Afghan transport supervisor, said.
Oman has a population of just over three million people, about one-quarter of wºhom are foreign workers, according to official statistics. Oman also hosts more than a million visitors a year, mainly people from Arab states and South Asian countries visiting their relatives.
The sultanate relaxed visa rules three years ago to encourage tourism and help diversify the economy.
“We should not blame the government for allowing more people to come to Oman. We should blame expatriates and visitors for taking advantage.
“If it goes on for too long, these women may turn the begging racket into prostitution. Then we will have a real problem,” Mr al Raisy, said.
Places of worship are a favourite haunt for foreign men waiting at the door after prayers with outstretched hands. One middle-aged Iraqi man, who identified himself as Qassim, pulled his shirt up to reveal two ghastly scars across his stomach and ribs outside a mosque.
“This was a bullet from Saddam’s soldiers six years ago and the other wound was inflicted three months ago by the Sunni terrorists in Basra. They killed my family and wrecked my home … now I am not fit for work,” he told worshippers leaving a Shia mosque in Muscat.
Religious leaders fear that beggars with stories of sectarian violence from their homelands will encourage tension among people of the three major Islamic sects – Ibadhi, Sunni and Shiite – practiced in the sultanate.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
Some of them cradle babies with tears in their eyes asking for compassion from “fellow Muslims” for help, pleading that the infants are orphans whose fathers were killed during the occupation of their countries.
“We are the victims of the American injustice who made our children fatherless and we have nowhere to go but come here,” begged one Afghan woman named Zulekha, standing outside a shopping mall.
Observers say that many times, the begging women refuse to accept small amounts of money, which is increasing resentment among locals, raising questions about whether they are genuine and in real need.
“Genuine poor people accept whatever they can get. I think they are fakes and scroungers who are looking to take advantage of our conscience. We should not give them anything since that will encourage more of them to come here,” Ahmed al Raisy, a security guard at the Lulu shopping mall, said.
The beggars are part of a racket organised in the host countries by people paying the beggars’ travelling expenses, some local expatriates claim.
But other residents disagree. “These women have no other choice but to leave their countries since they live in appalling conditions with no one to depend on after the deaths of their husbands during conflicts in places like Iraq and Palestine,” said Hussain Abdulrasool, an Iraqi expatriate in Oman. “Oman is one of the prime targets because it is easy to get a visa for Arab nationals and its people are much more tolerant than in other GCC countries.”
Some expatriates, however, blame their own for the appearance of the aggressive beggars, saying that they send their wives out to beg and make them wear veils to conceal their identities and increase their income.
“I know for a fact, one or two of my fellow expatriates, out of pure greed, have their own wives beg in the streets to increase their income. It is a shameful practice but it is the truth,” Abdullah Khaliq, an Afghan transport supervisor, said.
Oman has a population of just over three million people, about one-quarter of wºhom are foreign workers, according to official statistics. Oman also hosts more than a million visitors a year, mainly people from Arab states and South Asian countries visiting their relatives.
The sultanate relaxed visa rules three years ago to encourage tourism and help diversify the economy.
“We should not blame the government for allowing more people to come to Oman. We should blame expatriates and visitors for taking advantage.
“If it goes on for too long, these women may turn the begging racket into prostitution. Then we will have a real problem,” Mr al Raisy, said.
Places of worship are a favourite haunt for foreign men waiting at the door after prayers with outstretched hands. One middle-aged Iraqi man, who identified himself as Qassim, pulled his shirt up to reveal two ghastly scars across his stomach and ribs outside a mosque.
“This was a bullet from Saddam’s soldiers six years ago and the other wound was inflicted three months ago by the Sunni terrorists in Basra. They killed my family and wrecked my home … now I am not fit for work,” he told worshippers leaving a Shia mosque in Muscat.
Religious leaders fear that beggars with stories of sectarian violence from their homelands will encourage tension among people of the three major Islamic sects – Ibadhi, Sunni and Shiite – practiced in the sultanate.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Female beggars on the rise in Muscat
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
NIZWA, OMAN // The marketplace in the conservative town of Nizwa, in central Oman, was bustling with the commotion of shoppers and the noise of hammers hitting silverware in repair shops.
An American couple with their children strolled in the ancient courtyard browsing over silver trinkets. The man was wearing khaki shorts and was shirtless. His wife was wearing a blue skirt showing off most of her suntanned legs.
She had on a matching sleeveless blouse that failed to cover the straps of her black bra. Their two boys were frolicking at the foot of an old mosque that was standing vigilant over the courtyard. They played with water taps attached on the outside wall used by worshippers to perform ablution before prayer time.
An old trader sitting cross-legged at the entrance of his spice shop tugged his white, flowing beard, his eyes fixed on the American couple. He shook his head and said to his Omani customers, “What is Oman coming to? Is this what the Muscat bureaucrats call progress?”
Western expatriates are a minority in Oman in comparison with workers from the Indian subcontinent, but they travel around the country during weekends and bank holidays, including farflung towns such as Nizwa.
Though there is no specific dress code in the sultanate, some western expatriates, according to a retired ministry of national heritage official, Marhoon al Kaabi, “take advantage of the good nature of the Omani people”.
That’s why many locals say South Asians are more accepted in the country than other nationalities. Their cultures, he maintained, are much closer to the local ones.
“Don’t get us wrong. We don’t resist changes. Oman has known changes for centuries. My father and grandfather traveled to East Africa and India most of their lives as seafarers. We have seen many visitors since oil was discovered.
"But it is getting worse and their numbers are increasing. What is annoying is the way they dress up and [their] lack of sensitivity towards our cultures. I don’t have a problem [with them] if they respect our culture,” Sheikh Mohammed al Sayyafi, a tribal elder in Sur in eastern Oman, said.
Shiekh Sayyafi, a man in his seventies, is one of the traditional shiekhs who is on the government’s payroll as a minor official in his area. He settles local disputes, signs passport application papers, acts as arbitrator on local business affairs and even leads prayers at his local mosque.
A historian who sells old books in the courtyard in Nizwa said, “I am probably of the last generation to do this dying business, thanks to the government’s new initiative to build hotels and modern shopping malls in the small towns to attract foreign visitors. They explain to us that this is how they can create employment for our children. All the government is attracting is half-naked people walking in our streets.”
Government officials respond to such criticism by saying that local dignitaries are to blame, too, for the erosion of traditions in their hometowns.
“The majority of the sheikhs and other tribal leaders of some towns are driven by greed. They sell off family lands and farms to wealthy Muscat business people that are converted into hotels and shopping malls. The government is doing its best to keep the tradition and untouched. We [have] just renovated the castles, built road networks in these places and perhaps improved the beaches,” Ali al Nabhani, a planning officer at the housing ministry, said.
A resident of Oman’s industrial city of Sohar agreed with Mr Nabhani’s position, and said that tribal elders are the wealthiest people in the smaller cities of Oman.
“Tribal elders possess most of the prime lands. They are now rich and powerful from that wealth. They are the ones that brought in what they call ‘foreign elements’ in towns with their greed,” said Khamis al Nahar, a taxi driver in Sohar. “It is a double standard meant to pull wool over our eyes when they feel guilty about it. Now they pretend they are the guardians of the heritage!”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
An American couple with their children strolled in the ancient courtyard browsing over silver trinkets. The man was wearing khaki shorts and was shirtless. His wife was wearing a blue skirt showing off most of her suntanned legs.
She had on a matching sleeveless blouse that failed to cover the straps of her black bra. Their two boys were frolicking at the foot of an old mosque that was standing vigilant over the courtyard. They played with water taps attached on the outside wall used by worshippers to perform ablution before prayer time.
An old trader sitting cross-legged at the entrance of his spice shop tugged his white, flowing beard, his eyes fixed on the American couple. He shook his head and said to his Omani customers, “What is Oman coming to? Is this what the Muscat bureaucrats call progress?”
Western expatriates are a minority in Oman in comparison with workers from the Indian subcontinent, but they travel around the country during weekends and bank holidays, including farflung towns such as Nizwa.
Though there is no specific dress code in the sultanate, some western expatriates, according to a retired ministry of national heritage official, Marhoon al Kaabi, “take advantage of the good nature of the Omani people”.
That’s why many locals say South Asians are more accepted in the country than other nationalities. Their cultures, he maintained, are much closer to the local ones.
“Don’t get us wrong. We don’t resist changes. Oman has known changes for centuries. My father and grandfather traveled to East Africa and India most of their lives as seafarers. We have seen many visitors since oil was discovered.
"But it is getting worse and their numbers are increasing. What is annoying is the way they dress up and [their] lack of sensitivity towards our cultures. I don’t have a problem [with them] if they respect our culture,” Sheikh Mohammed al Sayyafi, a tribal elder in Sur in eastern Oman, said.
Shiekh Sayyafi, a man in his seventies, is one of the traditional shiekhs who is on the government’s payroll as a minor official in his area. He settles local disputes, signs passport application papers, acts as arbitrator on local business affairs and even leads prayers at his local mosque.
A historian who sells old books in the courtyard in Nizwa said, “I am probably of the last generation to do this dying business, thanks to the government’s new initiative to build hotels and modern shopping malls in the small towns to attract foreign visitors. They explain to us that this is how they can create employment for our children. All the government is attracting is half-naked people walking in our streets.”
Government officials respond to such criticism by saying that local dignitaries are to blame, too, for the erosion of traditions in their hometowns.
“The majority of the sheikhs and other tribal leaders of some towns are driven by greed. They sell off family lands and farms to wealthy Muscat business people that are converted into hotels and shopping malls. The government is doing its best to keep the tradition and untouched. We [have] just renovated the castles, built road networks in these places and perhaps improved the beaches,” Ali al Nabhani, a planning officer at the housing ministry, said.
A resident of Oman’s industrial city of Sohar agreed with Mr Nabhani’s position, and said that tribal elders are the wealthiest people in the smaller cities of Oman.
“Tribal elders possess most of the prime lands. They are now rich and powerful from that wealth. They are the ones that brought in what they call ‘foreign elements’ in towns with their greed,” said Khamis al Nahar, a taxi driver in Sohar. “It is a double standard meant to pull wool over our eyes when they feel guilty about it. Now they pretend they are the guardians of the heritage!”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Source: The National, Omanis frown on ‘half-naked’ expats
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Fragrant memories
SINBAD the sailor was here. Or at least the Omanis I meet swear this is
true. The famed teller of tall tales was born in the port of Sohar, or so the story goes. Perhaps he was, but some historians suggest Sinbad hailed from ancient Persia or Mesopotamia. Others cruelly contend he didn't exist and was a composite based on adventurers who took to sailing ships to spread Islam. Omanis ranged far and wide: hunger for prized spices meant the isle of Zanzibar, off Tanzania's coast, was Oman-ruled for almost two centuries until 1856.
Marco Polo visited Oman in 1285, extolling a frankincense port called al-Baleed, where contemporary archeologists now sweat in roped-off surrounds on the outskirts of Salalah, Oman's second city. Even more revered is Ibn Battuta, a renowned 14th-century wanderer who, as a Moroccan, is accurately described as the Arab world's, as well as Africa's, most intrepid traveller. The Arabian Peninsula, I'm frequently reminded, is a bridge between Africa and Asia.
From al-Baleed's brown walls of stone, their remains seldom more than waist-high, I head into the adjoining Museum of the Frankincense Land. It encapsulates Omani history and the pivotal role of frankincense trading as well as showcasing contemporary Oman, the petrochemical industry and the initiatives of head of state Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said.
Then there's the queen of Sheba. Many Omanis believe one of her palaces was within another frankincense port, Samhuram, at Khor Rori, a half hour's drive from Salalah; it can take longer if wandering camels linger while crossing the asphalt highway. An ostentatiously wealthy monarch, the queen reputedly showered King Solomon, builder of the first temple in Jerusalem, with lavish gifts of frankincense.
Some authorities pooh-pooh this, insisting the queen of Sheba -- whose kingdom reputedly encompassed parts of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen -- was unfamiliar with Samhuram.
Whatever the truth, there's no disputing this Dhofar governorate oozes colourful stories in a complex intertwining of history and legend. Archeological digs continue at various locations, unearthing the past and exposing the fanciful.
Tourists come increasingly to Salalah, rambling amid ruins and lazing at beach resorts; they are attracted because Salalah is an Omani oddity where monsoonal rains, absent elsewhere in Arabia, allow bananas and other tropical fruits to be cultivated, sometimes surrounded by extreme aridity. Other pursuits include wadi-bashing (in four-wheel-drive vehicles on dry riverbeds), dune-bashing (plunging from dune cliffs in 4WDs, with soft sand slowing downward speed), sea trips to view dolphin pods and trudges along remote beaches where turtles hatch.
A common thread through Oman's past is the frankincense trade. Capitalising on this, Oman terms itself "the frankincense land". It is as much a symbol of the sultanate as distinctive headgear and khanjars (curved daggers). Omanis boast of their history and their preservation of the old, in stark contrast to the neighbouring emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where the emphasis is firmly on the new.
Dried resin from frankincense trees is still placed in pebble-sized pieces in burners in homes and workplaces, emitting a pleasing aroma, much like musky incense. The smell is in the smoke.
Some of Oman's most eye-catching monuments are shaped like giant frankincense burners. Frankincense is harvested mainly for perfume-making. It's an ingredient, too, at Amouage, an Omani venture supported by Sultan Qaboos that produces expensive fragrances sold at duty-free shops and perfumeries worldwide.
Britain's T.E. Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia, suspected that land near an oasis named Shisr in Oman's Empty Quarter -- a forbidding but enticing zone of shifting sands -- concealed the legendary lost city of Ubar. Subsequent archeological research, using space-age sensing equipment, has confirmed this. Researchers believe references to a place called Irem in the Koran relate to Ubar, a hub of the frankincense business. Trade routes led to and from it before the city disappeared under drifting dunes. Digs have so far unearthed a fort, towers, city walls and artefacts.
Shisr is part of a World Heritage-listed frankincense trail but because it is 200km from Salalah it is less visited than easily accessible al-Baleed, Khor Rori and Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park. Friends in Muscat, Oman's capital, are unanimous: Samhuram at Khor Rori is the most impressive set of ruins. They're right, though al-Baleed, handily at Salalah's edge, better suits the exceedingly time-poor.
Historical daydreams envelop me as, with a driver named Ali, I negotiate hairpin bends on a one-hour climb into the Dhofar Mountains. Ali, though friendly, is less loquacious than most Omanis I meet. Conversations are usually one of the joys of Oman. Fortunately, Ali isn't a frustrated rally driver so I have plenty of time to think on the road to Wadi Dawkah. We sit behind trucks piled high with bananas on their 1000km journey from Salalah to Muscat. They struggle, sometimes slowing to less than walking pace.
When our descent begins, the pace quickens. We turn from highway to dirt track; a sign announces Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park. Frankincense comes from an arid-zone tree of the same name, not among the world's prettiest. Occasionally emerging from seemingly solid rock where roots penetrate the narrowest of crevices, these trees often grow near wadis supplying access to subterranean moisture.
Ali scoops seeping resin from one of many trunks and holds it beneath my nose. The gorgeous fragrance is unmistakably frankincense. Khor Rori's pathways take me through the ruins of 4th-century Samhuram: residential areas, shops and frankincense storage areas (but no visible remnants as yet of the queen of Sheba's purported palace). The area, about 200m by 50m, offers splendid views of the sea and countryside. I pause at one of several look-outs to gaze across calm sea towards the horizon, imagining sailing ships laden with fragrant cargoes heading to distant destinations. Between me and the sea is the bluest of lagoons, a safe haven for sailing ships. Khors are lagoons with openings to the sea, a common feature of the local landscape. Frankincense, Ali reminds me, was transported to this port on camels' backs along desert trade routes. I turn from the sea. The Dhofar Mountains rise in the distance. From these ranges to the coast is a rocky plain with little vegetation. It reminds me of travelling from Western Australia to South Australia across the Nullarbor Plain. Then, far away, I spot camels, 18 in all and moving in a line across this harsh vista.
Not all the ruins in the Salalah area are frankincense related. At Beit Zarbij, 27km from Salalah, is Job's Tomb, burial place of a prophet featured in the Old Testament and the Koran. A nearby spring called Sharsate is said to have gushed wildly in response to one of Job's prayers; it's another reminder that Oman is a meeting place of history and legend.
Chris Pritchard was a guest of Oman Air.
Checklist
Fly to Oman via Abu Dhabi with Etihad, via Dubai with Emirates or via Bangkok with Thai Airways. Oman Air flies from Muscat to Salalah. Thai Airways has economy-class return fares to Muscat from $1702 and Bangkok stopovers from $9 a person. More: www.thaiairways.com.au; www.omanair.aero.
Creative Tours has an eight-day Classical Oman tour from $2711 a person twin-share that includes Muscat and Salalah; the cost covers return flights from Muscat to Salalah, seven nights in four-star accommodation, some meals, transfers, entrance fees and guided sightseeing with English-speaking driver. More: www.creativeholidays.com.au.
Muscat's top accommodation ranges from the beachside Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa and the Grand Hyatt Muscat, to the luxury low-rise Chedi Muscat. More: www.shangri-la.com; www.hyatt.com; www.ghmhotels.com.
www.omantourism.gov.om
Source: The Australian
true. The famed teller of tall tales was born in the port of Sohar, or so the story goes. Perhaps he was, but some historians suggest Sinbad hailed from ancient Persia or Mesopotamia. Others cruelly contend he didn't exist and was a composite based on adventurers who took to sailing ships to spread Islam. Omanis ranged far and wide: hunger for prized spices meant the isle of Zanzibar, off Tanzania's coast, was Oman-ruled for almost two centuries until 1856.
Marco Polo visited Oman in 1285, extolling a frankincense port called al-Baleed, where contemporary archeologists now sweat in roped-off surrounds on the outskirts of Salalah, Oman's second city. Even more revered is Ibn Battuta, a renowned 14th-century wanderer who, as a Moroccan, is accurately described as the Arab world's, as well as Africa's, most intrepid traveller. The Arabian Peninsula, I'm frequently reminded, is a bridge between Africa and Asia.
From al-Baleed's brown walls of stone, their remains seldom more than waist-high, I head into the adjoining Museum of the Frankincense Land. It encapsulates Omani history and the pivotal role of frankincense trading as well as showcasing contemporary Oman, the petrochemical industry and the initiatives of head of state Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said.
Then there's the queen of Sheba. Many Omanis believe one of her palaces was within another frankincense port, Samhuram, at Khor Rori, a half hour's drive from Salalah; it can take longer if wandering camels linger while crossing the asphalt highway. An ostentatiously wealthy monarch, the queen reputedly showered King Solomon, builder of the first temple in Jerusalem, with lavish gifts of frankincense.
Some authorities pooh-pooh this, insisting the queen of Sheba -- whose kingdom reputedly encompassed parts of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen -- was unfamiliar with Samhuram.
Whatever the truth, there's no disputing this Dhofar governorate oozes colourful stories in a complex intertwining of history and legend. Archeological digs continue at various locations, unearthing the past and exposing the fanciful.
Tourists come increasingly to Salalah, rambling amid ruins and lazing at beach resorts; they are attracted because Salalah is an Omani oddity where monsoonal rains, absent elsewhere in Arabia, allow bananas and other tropical fruits to be cultivated, sometimes surrounded by extreme aridity. Other pursuits include wadi-bashing (in four-wheel-drive vehicles on dry riverbeds), dune-bashing (plunging from dune cliffs in 4WDs, with soft sand slowing downward speed), sea trips to view dolphin pods and trudges along remote beaches where turtles hatch.
A common thread through Oman's past is the frankincense trade. Capitalising on this, Oman terms itself "the frankincense land". It is as much a symbol of the sultanate as distinctive headgear and khanjars (curved daggers). Omanis boast of their history and their preservation of the old, in stark contrast to the neighbouring emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where the emphasis is firmly on the new.
Dried resin from frankincense trees is still placed in pebble-sized pieces in burners in homes and workplaces, emitting a pleasing aroma, much like musky incense. The smell is in the smoke.
Some of Oman's most eye-catching monuments are shaped like giant frankincense burners. Frankincense is harvested mainly for perfume-making. It's an ingredient, too, at Amouage, an Omani venture supported by Sultan Qaboos that produces expensive fragrances sold at duty-free shops and perfumeries worldwide.
Britain's T.E. Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia, suspected that land near an oasis named Shisr in Oman's Empty Quarter -- a forbidding but enticing zone of shifting sands -- concealed the legendary lost city of Ubar. Subsequent archeological research, using space-age sensing equipment, has confirmed this. Researchers believe references to a place called Irem in the Koran relate to Ubar, a hub of the frankincense business. Trade routes led to and from it before the city disappeared under drifting dunes. Digs have so far unearthed a fort, towers, city walls and artefacts.
Shisr is part of a World Heritage-listed frankincense trail but because it is 200km from Salalah it is less visited than easily accessible al-Baleed, Khor Rori and Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park. Friends in Muscat, Oman's capital, are unanimous: Samhuram at Khor Rori is the most impressive set of ruins. They're right, though al-Baleed, handily at Salalah's edge, better suits the exceedingly time-poor.
Historical daydreams envelop me as, with a driver named Ali, I negotiate hairpin bends on a one-hour climb into the Dhofar Mountains. Ali, though friendly, is less loquacious than most Omanis I meet. Conversations are usually one of the joys of Oman. Fortunately, Ali isn't a frustrated rally driver so I have plenty of time to think on the road to Wadi Dawkah. We sit behind trucks piled high with bananas on their 1000km journey from Salalah to Muscat. They struggle, sometimes slowing to less than walking pace.
When our descent begins, the pace quickens. We turn from highway to dirt track; a sign announces Wadi Dawkah Frankincense Park. Frankincense comes from an arid-zone tree of the same name, not among the world's prettiest. Occasionally emerging from seemingly solid rock where roots penetrate the narrowest of crevices, these trees often grow near wadis supplying access to subterranean moisture.
Ali scoops seeping resin from one of many trunks and holds it beneath my nose. The gorgeous fragrance is unmistakably frankincense. Khor Rori's pathways take me through the ruins of 4th-century Samhuram: residential areas, shops and frankincense storage areas (but no visible remnants as yet of the queen of Sheba's purported palace). The area, about 200m by 50m, offers splendid views of the sea and countryside. I pause at one of several look-outs to gaze across calm sea towards the horizon, imagining sailing ships laden with fragrant cargoes heading to distant destinations. Between me and the sea is the bluest of lagoons, a safe haven for sailing ships. Khors are lagoons with openings to the sea, a common feature of the local landscape. Frankincense, Ali reminds me, was transported to this port on camels' backs along desert trade routes. I turn from the sea. The Dhofar Mountains rise in the distance. From these ranges to the coast is a rocky plain with little vegetation. It reminds me of travelling from Western Australia to South Australia across the Nullarbor Plain. Then, far away, I spot camels, 18 in all and moving in a line across this harsh vista.
Not all the ruins in the Salalah area are frankincense related. At Beit Zarbij, 27km from Salalah, is Job's Tomb, burial place of a prophet featured in the Old Testament and the Koran. A nearby spring called Sharsate is said to have gushed wildly in response to one of Job's prayers; it's another reminder that Oman is a meeting place of history and legend.
Chris Pritchard was a guest of Oman Air.
Checklist
Fly to Oman via Abu Dhabi with Etihad, via Dubai with Emirates or via Bangkok with Thai Airways. Oman Air flies from Muscat to Salalah. Thai Airways has economy-class return fares to Muscat from $1702 and Bangkok stopovers from $9 a person. More: www.thaiairways.com.au; www.omanair.aero.
Creative Tours has an eight-day Classical Oman tour from $2711 a person twin-share that includes Muscat and Salalah; the cost covers return flights from Muscat to Salalah, seven nights in four-star accommodation, some meals, transfers, entrance fees and guided sightseeing with English-speaking driver. More: www.creativeholidays.com.au.
Muscat's top accommodation ranges from the beachside Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa and the Grand Hyatt Muscat, to the luxury low-rise Chedi Muscat. More: www.shangri-la.com; www.hyatt.com; www.ghmhotels.com.
www.omantourism.gov.om
Source: The Australian
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
On the Road: Traditional Omani Food
One aspect of travelling I particularly enjoy is the opportunity to try a plethora of new foods, especially of local cuisines and traditional foods. Oman being a very diverse nation-state offers the traveller many different cultural foods from Arab to Indian to East African and beyond. I have located some literature on Omani food which is pasted below. Much of it seems enticing and sounds delicious, especially the Maqboos and Laban. Yallah!!!
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
It is fairly simple, but by using various marinades and impregnating meat with spices, the result is a mouth-watering concoction which stimulates the tastebuds. Chicken, fish and mutton are regularly used in dishes. A favourite drink is laban, a salty buttermilk. Yoghurt drinks, flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts are also very popular.
Although spices, herbs, onion, garlic and lime are liberally used in traditional Omani cuisine, unlike similar Asian food, it is not hot. Omani cuisine is also distinct from the indigenous foods of other Gulf states and even varies within the Sultanate's different regions. The differences between some of the dishes prepared in Salalah, in the south, and those prepared in Muscat, in the north, are so market that it is difficult to find anything common between them. However, one delight that remains a symbol of Omani hospitality throughout the country are the ubiquitous dates, served with khawa, or Omani coffee. Khawa is prepared from freshly roasted ground coffee mixed with cardamom powder.
Special dishes are prepared for festive occasions. The Islamic world celebrates two main religious festivals - Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated following the Holy Month of Ramadan when people complete their obligatory fasting for 30 days. Eid Al Adha is celebrated on completing the Haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Dishes prepared during Ramadan are very seldom cooked on other occasions.
Food cooked on important occasions, such as Eid, is of an infinite variety. Omanis across the country serve an array of dishes. In Dhofar and Wusta, the festivities start with ruz al mudhroub, a dish made of cooked rice and served with fried fish, and maqdeed, special dried meat. In Muscat, Al Batinah, Dahira and Sharqiya regions, muqalab, a dish of tripe and pluck cooked with crushed or ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, back pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg), dominates the menu. Other dishes served during Eid festivities include arsia, a dish of lamb meat cooked with rice, and mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal.
Lunch on the first day of Eid is usually harees, which is made from wheat mixed with meat. Lunch on the second day is mishkak, while on the third and last day, shuwa forms the whole day's meal.
However, it is during Ramadan that one can experience Omani food at its best and two of the most popular traditional dishes served at Iftar, the breaking of the fast include sakhana, a thick, sweet soup made of wheat, date, molasses and milk and fatta, a meat and vegetable dish, mixed with khubz rakhal, thin Omani bread, made out of unleavened dough.
Shuwa is a typically Omani delicacy prepared only on very special occasions. Whole villages participate in the cooking of the dish which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to two days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.
The method of preparing shuwa is elaborate. The meat is marinated with red pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garlic and vinegar and then wrapped in sacks made of dry banana or palm leaves. These sacks are then thrown into the smoldering oven, which is covered with a lid and sealed so that no smoke escapes. In some villages, the meat is cooked for 24 hours while in others it is believed that meat tastes better after 48 hours.
Everyday Omani cuisine includes a wide variety of soups - vegetable, lentil, lamb and chicken. Salads are also popular and are usually based around fresh vegetables, smoked eggplant, tuna fish, dried fish or watercress. Main course dishes are extensive and range from marak, a vegetable curry, to assorted kebabs, barbecued, grilled and curried meat, chicken and fish dishes.
Rice is used widely and is served in a variety of ways, from steamed to elaborate concoctions bursting with meat and vegetables. Breads rage from the plain to those flavoured with dates, sesame, thyme and garlic. For desert, Omani halwa, or sweatmeat, is a traditional favourite.
Source: www.omanet.om
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
The Omani people are well known for their hospitality and offers of refreshment. To be invited into someone's home will mean coffee (kahwa), a strong, bitter drink flavoured with cardamom, and dates or halwa, a sticky sweet gelatinous substance which is made from brown sugar, eggs, honey and spices. It can be flavoured with many different ingredients, such as nuts, rosewater or even chocolate. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee, which are balls of flour and yeast flavoured with cardamom and deep fried until golden then served with a sweet lime and cardamom syrup. The sweetness of this dish often counteracts the bitterness of the kahwa.
It is fairly simple, but by using various marinades and impregnating meat with spices, the result is a mouth-watering concoction which stimulates the tastebuds. Chicken, fish and mutton are regularly used in dishes. A favourite drink is laban, a salty buttermilk. Yoghurt drinks, flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts are also very popular.
Although spices, herbs, onion, garlic and lime are liberally used in traditional Omani cuisine, unlike similar Asian food, it is not hot. Omani cuisine is also distinct from the indigenous foods of other Gulf states and even varies within the Sultanate's different regions. The differences between some of the dishes prepared in Salalah, in the south, and those prepared in Muscat, in the north, are so market that it is difficult to find anything common between them. However, one delight that remains a symbol of Omani hospitality throughout the country are the ubiquitous dates, served with khawa, or Omani coffee. Khawa is prepared from freshly roasted ground coffee mixed with cardamom powder.
Special dishes are prepared for festive occasions. The Islamic world celebrates two main religious festivals - Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated following the Holy Month of Ramadan when people complete their obligatory fasting for 30 days. Eid Al Adha is celebrated on completing the Haj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham. Dishes prepared during Ramadan are very seldom cooked on other occasions.
Food cooked on important occasions, such as Eid, is of an infinite variety. Omanis across the country serve an array of dishes. In Dhofar and Wusta, the festivities start with ruz al mudhroub, a dish made of cooked rice and served with fried fish, and maqdeed, special dried meat. In Muscat, Al Batinah, Dahira and Sharqiya regions, muqalab, a dish of tripe and pluck cooked with crushed or ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, clove, back pepper, ginger, garlic and nutmeg), dominates the menu. Other dishes served during Eid festivities include arsia, a dish of lamb meat cooked with rice, and mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal.
Lunch on the first day of Eid is usually harees, which is made from wheat mixed with meat. Lunch on the second day is mishkak, while on the third and last day, shuwa forms the whole day's meal.
However, it is during Ramadan that one can experience Omani food at its best and two of the most popular traditional dishes served at Iftar, the breaking of the fast include sakhana, a thick, sweet soup made of wheat, date, molasses and milk and fatta, a meat and vegetable dish, mixed with khubz rakhal, thin Omani bread, made out of unleavened dough.
Shuwa is a typically Omani delicacy prepared only on very special occasions. Whole villages participate in the cooking of the dish which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to two days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.
The method of preparing shuwa is elaborate. The meat is marinated with red pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom, garlic and vinegar and then wrapped in sacks made of dry banana or palm leaves. These sacks are then thrown into the smoldering oven, which is covered with a lid and sealed so that no smoke escapes. In some villages, the meat is cooked for 24 hours while in others it is believed that meat tastes better after 48 hours.
Everyday Omani cuisine includes a wide variety of soups - vegetable, lentil, lamb and chicken. Salads are also popular and are usually based around fresh vegetables, smoked eggplant, tuna fish, dried fish or watercress. Main course dishes are extensive and range from marak, a vegetable curry, to assorted kebabs, barbecued, grilled and curried meat, chicken and fish dishes.
Rice is used widely and is served in a variety of ways, from steamed to elaborate concoctions bursting with meat and vegetables. Breads rage from the plain to those flavoured with dates, sesame, thyme and garlic. For desert, Omani halwa, or sweatmeat, is a traditional favourite.
Source: www.omanet.om
Monday, 15 June 2009
This is the tavern...Ali Mehdi
I received an email with a beautiful poem by a late Omani poet, Ali Mehdi. He was a well known poet and a prolific blogger under the pen name of Sleepless in Muscat. The poem below I translated with additional clarification provided by a dear friend. The poem is six stanzas in length, although I only translated the first. The remaining five stanzas, and the poem in its entirety may be read at Diwan al Arab.
حانة
هذه الحانة ُ والليلُ وأصنافُ الهموم
رحلة ٌ تفتحُ لي بابا ً..
لكي أغفو على خدّ النجوم
طائرا ً ما بين أرض ٍ و سماءِ
وليكن تحت حذائي
كلّ ما كانَ ..
فلا شىء مع الوقت يدوم
أيّها النادلُ كأسا ً ..
وليكن للثلج فيها ما يكون
قطعة ٌ تكفي .. أو اجعلها اثنتين ِ
الآنَ ناولني الثريّا
واتركِ الأرضَ لمن يسكنها منذ قرون ..
إنّني أسكنُ وحدي الآنَ أضواءَ (النيون) .
Tavern: Ali Mehdi, Oman
This is the tavern, and the night, and the kinds of concerns;
A journey that opens for me a door…
So that I fall asleep on the cheek of the stars,
Flying between the land and sky.
Let be under my shoe
All that was!...
Nothing lasts with time…
Waiter, a glass!
How many pieces of ice? Doesn’t matter…
A piece it’s enough or make it two!
Now give me the Pleiades,
And leave the Earth to those who have been dwelling on it for centuries…
I now am the one who inhabits alone the light of the stars…
حانة
هذه الحانة ُ والليلُ وأصنافُ الهموم
رحلة ٌ تفتحُ لي بابا ً..
لكي أغفو على خدّ النجوم
طائرا ً ما بين أرض ٍ و سماءِ
وليكن تحت حذائي
كلّ ما كانَ ..
فلا شىء مع الوقت يدوم
أيّها النادلُ كأسا ً ..
وليكن للثلج فيها ما يكون
قطعة ٌ تكفي .. أو اجعلها اثنتين ِ
الآنَ ناولني الثريّا
واتركِ الأرضَ لمن يسكنها منذ قرون ..
إنّني أسكنُ وحدي الآنَ أضواءَ (النيون) .
Tavern: Ali Mehdi, Oman
This is the tavern, and the night, and the kinds of concerns;
A journey that opens for me a door…
So that I fall asleep on the cheek of the stars,
Flying between the land and sky.
Let be under my shoe
All that was!...
Nothing lasts with time…
Waiter, a glass!
How many pieces of ice? Doesn’t matter…
A piece it’s enough or make it two!
Now give me the Pleiades,
And leave the Earth to those who have been dwelling on it for centuries…
I now am the one who inhabits alone the light of the stars…
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Oman: overview
Generally speaking the small Gulf nation-state of Oman (عمان) has received very little scholarly or related attention. In fact, a quick search on this nation-state using Google, Bing or other search engine will guide the researcher to small amounts of information, some of which is useful. However, in relation to its neighbours such the UAE or Qatar, Oman receives little to not attention especially by the press. This seems an unfortunate circumstance for, what I have read to date (which is not significant) Oman strikes me as a fascinating nation-state. It would not suffice to review the diverse culture living within its borders, however a brief mention would permit an interesting comparison to the perception most of have of Oman: the Gulf nation consists of Baluchis (predominantly from Pakistan, although some are of Iranian heritage), Persians, Zadjalis (predominantly from Pakistan, around the Sind area), Hindus (predominantly from India, the Sind and Gujarat), Lawatiyya or Khojas (from India and of Shiite practice) and Zanzibaris (from Zanzibar in modern day Tanzania), to name but a few. The diversity, it seems, although having some ramifications in terms of communal integration and acceptance, co-exists in a manner perhaps comparable to Syria or even Morrocco. While a civil war did take place in the 1970s that from many account was gruesome at times, the current climate of Oman is one of a blossoming civil society. Oman is predominantly (roughly 75-80%)Ibadhi (الاباضية) Muslim which is a sect of Sunni Islam. Some scholars believe it to have developed from Kharajites (خوارج), a strict sect of Islam adherent to the belief that an able leader should guide the Muslim community (ummah) as opposed, generally speaking to the Shi'ite doctrine that the Ummah should be guided by a member of the Prophet Muhammad's family. However, I still need to do further research into this practice of Islam before I can elaborate further. Suffice to say the rest of Omani culture practice other forms of Islam such Shi'ism (Twelver Shi'ism, which is the dominant religion of Iran; and Jafari Shi'ism) while a very small minority of Hindu worshipers, Christians, Zoroastrians and even Bahai's also dwell in Oman.
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