Some questions in my head:

Apart from the Islamic figures, who else is granted the title "sheikh" in Oman ( I mean on what basis are they chosen..) ? and is it decided amongst the men of the tribe or do other things also play a role in giving the title to a certain person? is it something that is passed on from father to son..?

is the concept fading away these days.. ?

Unfortunately, sheikh in the general sense has lost much of its religious association, both in East and West, and has now come to mean 'a very wealthy Arab, or one that is somehow linked to the relevant Arab Royal family'.

They could be alcohol-drinking, womanising, gambling Satan-worshippers, but as long as they fit that filthy-rich Arab image and wear the traditional gear, they are addressed as 'sheikh'.

Any one who has over a million $$ stashed in the bank is a shiek

I think the concept of shickh in the past had its importance. The shiekh used to lead his tribe and make sure they are all living well and well behaved. He used to be questioned by the SUltans if any of his tribemen commited any crime (especially if it is out of lack of money). That role helped to bring up a "cleaner" society and also a "self conious" society. Every man from the tribe was scared to make any crime because he/she did not want to dishonor his tribe.

This was the past,
Now, the shiekh is still the head of a tribe. Its not about money, because a shiekh could be so poor. However, the government does give him a certain amount of money because he has many obligations towards his tribemen (make them join togther, invite him over to his house ....)

So, simply shikhs are not about money, its about a tribe leader.

Today everybody is sheikh for himself !

Sheikh kimijis is one of the examples :duh: :gap:

Tribal sheikhs still exist. Every single tribe and community in Oman has a sheikh. This sheikh is in charge of legalizing papers and so on. For example when you want to get an ID card pr passport for the first time you have to get a verification from your tribe or community's sheikh stating that you are indeed who you say you are. You also need verification from sheikh al qabila when you want to authenticate your marriage certificate. When someone gets in trouble and needs help, usually it's the tribal sheikh who goes to meet the authorities, the walis and so on to see if anything can be done to help. etc etc. For this the government gives a small salary, sometimes as little as 100 rials a month for the sheikh's efforts.

Then there are the hundreds, if not thousands of people who like to be called sheikhs who really aren't. For example, it used to be that only the head of a tribe is a sheikh and not even his children are given that title. But these days not only are all his grown children called Sheikhs, even the children's children are. It's ridiculous. I think the government is allowing this on purpose to dilute the value of the word sheikh.

There are also the rich folks who started calling themselves sheikhs just because they're rich. They don't come from important tribes, and their families aren't that powerful amongh their own tribes either, but because they're rich, they want to be called sheikhs.

There are also the rich folks who started calling themselves sheikhs just because they're rich. They don't come from important tribes, and their families aren't that powerful amongh their own tribes either, but because they're rich, they want to be called sheikhs.

What are the important tribes ?? Can you name some 4 me plzz ?

Originally posted by mux

There are also the rich folks who started calling themselves sheikhs just because they're rich. They don't come from important tribes, and their families aren't that powerful amongh their own tribes either, but because they're rich, they want to be called sheikhs.

they only do that cuz they wanna be distinguished from other ppl... its strange, ppl in the west do care about titles except in england when they got given SIR.. but in general doesnt matter even though they were the richest ppl on earth!!

Originally posted by Navigator
What are the important tribes ?? Can you name some 4 me plzz ?

1 - his
2- her's
3- mine
4 - yrs navi ,,,

there r no important & not important tribes ..
we r all huan being ,,, tribes are only letters written on a paper ,,


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Sheikh is in everywhere almost but of course in different names ,

Originally posted by mux
I think the government is allowing this on purpose to dilute the value of the word sheikh.




why would they do it mux?