Oman Trip (12/28/2016 – 1/5/2017)

January 26, 2017

The eight days in Oman went a long way toward changing everyone’s vague understanding of Islamic faith and culture in important ways.  Hearing the Quranic chants five times a day from surrounding mosques, meeting with an American-educated social activist Omani woman who currently serves on the state council, having lunch with bureaucrats from the Department of Religious Affairs, taking a day to visit the enormous monument that is the grand mosque, seeing in comparison the various temples and churches that stand side by side to accommodate the religious lives of Oman’s non-Islamic population, engaging in a series of scriptural reasoning sessions with Muslim scholars, visiting ancient cities and desert dunes, even getting rest at an oasis—each of these elements individually and together all gave students much cause for reflection as to why these people developed the kinds of customs, costumes, cultures, and life/social regulations they did, and how they continue to affect the community they built in today’s contemporary contexts.

Almost every participant said they would want to join the trip again if we plan another one in the future.  Thank you for this great opportunity given to students; this was a wonderful initiation program for the upcoming inter-faith dialogue in NBTS community.

Click here to view the photos from the trip.