Different Sects, One Belief | WDEF y

Different Sects, One Belief

Submitted by WDEF News 12 and CNN on August 24, 2010 - 2:05pm. News | Lifestyle News | News with a Kick
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ITS PRAYER TIME IN MUSCAT, OMAN…AT FIRST GLANCE, NOTHING SEEMS UNUSUAL HERE.
BUT THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU SEE IN MANY OTHER MOSQUES IN THE MUSLIM WORLD. IN OMAN, IBADIYAH ISLAM IS THE DOMINANT FAITH... AND THEY PRAY SID-BY-SIDE WITH OTHER ISLAMIC SECTS.
VERY DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE IBADI- WHOSE WORSHIP DATES BACK TO THE SEVENTH CENTURY- ARE TRADITIONALLY REGARDED BY THE MSLIM WORLD'S DOMINANT SUNNI'S AS ''KHARWAREJ''- MEANING OUTCASTS TO ISLAM.
PEOPLE HERE SAY THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUNNI, A SHIIA AND AN IBADI. I AM HERE WITH SHEIKH MOHAMAD, HE IS AN IBADI SKHEIKH YET WE ARE IN A SUNNI MOSQUE.
"I have friends from any sect I have friends that are Sunni that are shia and when we sit together we talk about the similarities we have and we talk about the future and we talk about our country and how we can go forward, And we keep the strong relationship between us and we keep the society that we can live together."
WHILE HE PRAYED AT NOON IN THIS SUNNI MOSQUE…. … SHEIKH MOHAMMED TOOK HIS NIGHT PRAYERS AT THE IBADIYAH SULTAN QABOUS GRAND MOSQUE.
HISTORICALLY, THERE HAVE BEEN TENSIONS BETWEEN THE SECTS ACROSS THE MUSLIM WORLD...EVEN VIOLENCE. YET YOU DON'T SEE THIS HERE. THERE'S NO HISTORY OF VIOLENCE BETWEEN THE DENOMINATIONS. AHMED OTHMAN, A NEWS ANCHOR IN OMAN, AND A SUNNI, SAYS THE GOVERNMENT ENSURES OPPORTUNITIES TO ALL DENOMINATIONS..
"what the government is doing is giving opportunities to all sectors. They don't keep or block opportunities from shia groups for example or from sunni or ibadi. So everybody can work everywhere. And even in high positions you have ministers who are abadi or sunnis or shiites."
THIS UNIQUE APPROACH TO FAITH HAS CREATED WHAT MANY CONSIDER TO BE THE PERHAPS THE MOST STABLE COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
A SOCIETY THAT CHOOSES TO FOCUS MORE ON WHAT UNITES THEM THAN WHAT DIVIDES THEM.
RIMA MAKTABI,
CNN,
MUSCAT, OMAN
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