The most beautiful religious buildings Oman

Located in the Al Ghubrah district, at the northern entrance to the city, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the most majestic in the entire sultanate, can be seen from the highway linking Seeb airport to Muscat's inner suburbs. Although it is visually second only to another more recent and equally beautiful mosque - the Mohammed Al Ameen Mosque - the Great Mosque of Sultan Qaboos is the first impressive building to be seen on entering the capital. Alongside the Royal Opera House in the Qurm district and the National Museum of Oman in Old Muscat, it is one of the major structures commissioned during the reign of Sultan Qaboos.

With a surface area of 416,000 m² and room for 20,000 worshippers, this superb place of worship, inaugurated in 2001, reflects the spiritual strength of the nation. Its construction, which took more than six years, was entrusted to two architectural firms, one Omani (Architects International) and the other London-based (Quad Design), who favoured a blend of modernity and tradition. The entire complex is clad in cream-coloured "arabescato" sandstone in the prayer areas and lilac-coloured "taj" in the riwaqs (transitional spaces between interior and exterior with arcades). The stones were imported from India and cut in Muscat. The mosque's main entrance is on the south side and opens onto a beautiful flower garden. It leads to three other entrances, all of which open onto vast open spaces. The whole building consists of a vast platform at the heart of which is the main prayer hall and a smaller one for women. The limits of this sacred space are marked at each corner by a minaret, which rises to a height of around 45 metres, in addition to the main minaret, the fifth, 91.5 metres high, echoing the 5 pillars of Islam. On either side of the main buildings, as if framing them, are the riwaq: 240-metre-long arcaded corridors, decorated with mosaics and several domes, and housing the auxiliary rooms - notably the ablutions areas and a library rich in Arabic and English-language works that can be consulted on site.

The highlight of the visit isthe men's prayer hall , a masterly place, as much for its sheer size as for the beauty of its decorative materials and interior ornamentation: columns, stained glass windows, arcades, precious woodwork, finely sculpted ceilings, superb floral motifs... 6,500 people at a time can gather in the heart of the hall, under an immense dome rising to a height of fifty meters. The walls are entirely clad in white marble panels, dressed with carved tiles and decorated with geometric and floral motifs, as well as calligraphic inscriptions. At the far end, facing the heavy carved doors of the entrance, the mihrab facing Mecca is inlaid with carved earthenware tiles, with gold-colored tangles.

The Persian carpet is one of the room's jewels. Covering an area of 4,263 sq. m. in a single piece, it measures 70 x 60 meters, weighs no less than 21 tons, is made up of 1,700 million knots and comes in 28 shades, most of them obtained from vegetable dyes. Entirely hand-woven by 600 professionals, supervised by 15 experts from the Iranian province of Khurasan, it took four years to make. The carpet was brought to the main prayer hall in 58 pieces, which were assembled on site by specialists. Visitors are not allowed to tread freely on this vast and superb single piece, which is, to this day, the largest handmade Persian carpet in the world.

The chandeliers are the other centerpiece of the men's prayer room. No fewer than 35 of them, made of Swarowski crystals and gold-plated pieces, illuminate the great hall. The most imposing stands beneath the dome. It's a masterpiece, eight metres in diameter and fourteen metres high. Weighing eight tons, it is illuminated by 1,122 bulbs.

The stained glass windows are also remarkable, and were created by a French company, France Vitrail International. To enhance the building's prestige, the traditional technique was chosen. This uses only antique glass of uneven thickness, set with lead and then tinted with metal oxides.

Despite its beautiful woodwork doors and ceilings,the women's prayer room is much more sober than the main hall, and has no mihrab. Tradition dictates that women pray at home. As a result, the mosque's women's hall is much smaller, and can only accommodate 750 worshippers. It is equipped with audiovisual facilities, enabling women to pray under the guidance of the imam, whose preaching is broadcast live from the men's prayer room.

Very beautiful, this mosque was built in August 2009. The building is imposing. Adorned with two minarets, it blends into the landscape by its beige and sand colors. Inside the large prayer hall, one can admire a huge carpet made of a single piece and a surface of 4 200 m². Several masterful Swarovski crystal chandeliers also contrast with the sobriety of the whole. A special mention for the particularly spectacular one placed in the center of the room. Outside, a pleasant garden unfolds.

Imran and Hannah had a daughter whom they named Maryam, the one who was to become Umm Issa, the mother of Jesus. Let us read the Qur'an again: "Remember the day when Imran's wife prayed to God: 'Lord, I have consecrated to you what is in my womb, it will be yours in full; accept it, for you hear and know everything. When she gave birth, she said, "Lord, I have given birth to a daughter, and I have named her Maryam; I place her and her offspring under your protection, that you may preserve them from the wiles of Satan the stoned In the Christian tradition, the same story is written under different names as Imran becomes Joachim and Hannah is called Hannah. Their story appears in the apocryphal Gospel of James. Joachim is described as a rich and pious man who regularly gives to the poor. However, because his wife is barren (a sign of divine displeasure), the High Priest rejects Joachim. Joachim withdrew to the desert where he fasted for forty days. Angels appear to him and promise him a child. Joachim returns to Jerusalem and finds Anne whom he "embraces". And so, oh surprise! It is the tomb of Joachim, the maternal grandfather of Jesus-Isa and one of the 25 prophets mentioned in the Koran that we find two kilometers from the old airport. Take off your shoes and enter the mausoleum adjacent to the mosque for an out-of-bounds experience. There, in an ethereal halo, it is indeed a 13-meter long tomb, giving off something intensely mysterious and surreal.

Listed and fully restored, the Jami Al Hamoda Mosque was built in the 11th century. Of rather modest size, it recalls the profile of Sahelian mosques. With no minaret, it is characterized by its 52 domes which make it unique. Its courtyard is crossed by a falaj which is used for ablutions. The mosque is not open to non-Muslims, but it is still often possible to enter it outside of prayer (and siesta!) hours. Try to get a fabulous shot of the roof.

Pierre Assouline, author of Vies de Job, says: "The character trait of Job that I remember most is his ability to resist. Everything gathers against him, starting with his god, which is quite something! His body is martyred, he is abandoned by all, and even there, in the depths of this absolute solitude, he continues to resist. He does not give up. This is an extraordinary lesson Whether Ayyoub (Job) existed or not is not the question, because in the general opinion of Dhofarien, he is buried there in this small mausoleum topped by a dome adjacent to a small mosque. A character common to the three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he is the hero of the Book of Job, a didactic prose poem common to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, considered a masterpiece of biblical literature. Job is mentioned in the Koran, among the 25 prophets, in the same way as Adam, Solomon, Moses or Jesus. According to the Talmud, he was one of the three advisors consulted by the Pharaoh of the Exodus before making a decision concerning the children of Israel who were multiplying in an alarming way, the one who did not oppose the elimination of newborn males. It is for this silence that God will punish him in this way. There is nothing to explain his presence in the mountains of Salalah, except the popular account of a legendary trace. The story of this prophet could make a good subject for the baccalaureate: "Is misfortune always the result of a divine punishment? Why is the innocent man also called to suffer? Satan, trusting in Job's weakness, proposes the form of a trial: "Stretch out your hand; touch his possessions, and we will see if he does not deny you to your face." God accepts the proposal. In a few hours Job sees himself stripped of everything, reduced to begging, deprived of children. Nevertheless, he does not deny God. Satan does not consider himself defeated. " Stretch out your hand; touch his bones and his flesh, and see if he does not deny you to yourface And here is the servant of God afflicted with leprosy. Then Job gets up, tears his cloak and shaves his head; then he throws himself on the ground, prostrates himself and says: "I came out of my mother's womb naked, and naked I shall return to the earth. The Lord gave, and the Lord took away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Immediately thereafter, God restores Job's wealth, giving him twice the wealth he had, and 10 children. Job lived a holy and happy life and died a beautiful death. In Salalah? How to know? In Oman, no information or reflection is offered on the intellectual work attributed to Ayyub, despite his dazzling thoughts and the exegesis made of them by some and others, believers or agitators of ideas. Of a serene banality, the place of his last rest is moreover quite modest, tiled, very simple and without any ornament. It might disappoint if the aura surrounding the man were not so great and if the access road itself, open to the vast surrounding plains, were not worth the journey by its quiet beauty.

Continuing on the main road to Jebel Al-Qara (6 km after Job's tomb), one reaches the village of Titam. Pass it, then stop a few kilometers further to appreciate the landscape. We are here at the top of the plateaus. By continuing the road until Uyun, one will be able to see trees with incense.

Honored for having created the Koranic school of Mirbat, Bin Ali Al Alawi, descendant of a son-in-law of the Prophet, rests under a pair of limed cones since 1161. Next door, the large cemetery has kept beautiful marble plaques, reserved for wealthy families. Other tombs are more modest. They are topped by three stones, indicating the burial of a woman, two stones for a man, and one stone for a child. The deceased is buried with his head facing Mecca.

The story, as recorded in the Qur'an, tells that the Prophet and Messenger Sauliah, at the request of Allah himself, endeavoured to teach faith in one God to the Thamudites, polytheistic troglodytes: "O my people! Worship God! There is no God but he. A proof has come to you: God's camel, as a sign for you. Let her graze the land of God, do not touch her with any evil. Otherwise, a painful punishment will seize you. The Prophet declared that this camel would need water and he established a rule: the people would now have access to water only every other day, the other day being reserved for the animal. After a few weeks, disgruntled people were heard: "They killed the camel, disobeyed the command of their Lord and said, 'O Saleh, bring us what you threaten us with, if you are one of the Messengers. When Sunday morning came, they perfumed themselves and sat down, waiting for the punishment that was to come. After the sunrise, a mighty breath came from the sky and a cry went out from below them. All the souls died and all movement stopped. According to tradition, the rock here, which is protected and visually accessible to visitors, would bear the traces of the camel's footsteps and the blood of her wounds; the other footprints would be those of the prophet and his cane. Do not expect anything spectacular; objectively speaking, the site is quite strange, but the believers seem attached to it. Provide a telephoto lens to capture the details!

This white mosque of rare elegance can be seen as soon as you enter Muscat from the north. Built on a small hill, it dominates part of the city and is distinguished by its delicate architecture, particularly at nightfall - superb lighting. Entirely made of marble, it was built from 2008 to 2014. The main prayer hall is decorated with an 11-metre high chandelier partially covered with fine gold and can accommodate 2,100 worshippers