Travels in Oman: The Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat

Every hard-working sultan with a bit of oil money left on his hands deserves to spend it on some vanity projects that will glorify his name the world over. This past year marked the inauguration of the Sultan Qaboos Royal Opera House in Muscat, close to the most expensive opera house ever built which boasts one of the best acoustic halls in the world and brings in Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and La Scala. (We wanted to attend a performance of Swan Lake by the touring Bolshoi Ballet, but the pricey tickets were sold out solid months in advance).

The previous project that immortalized the Sultan is the 2001 Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, which can accommodate up to 20,000 worshippers, has the world's second-largest hand-woven carpet and chandelier, made in Germany, and is without a doubt the most beautiful mosque I've seen (pictures below).

The Omani branch of Islam, Ibadhi Islam, is peaceful and no terrorist leanings have been noted. The Grand Mosque does strongly encourage the tourist to take tea and dates in the company of some proselytizing ladies speaking in quiet tones. We obediently waited for the said ladies and were meanwhile helpfully directed to Russian-language brochures. One was Women in Islam; another, a tract inveighing against the Jewish decadence in not wearing the veil, was originally written by an Egyptian. Then, seeing that the said ladies were busy with other customers, we quietly slipped out again into the sunshine.