Omani poet who lived in Zanzibar is among global influential figures: UNESCO

Abu Muslim al Bahlani among global influential figures

Paris: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the inclusion of Omani poet Nasser bin Salim al Rawahi, nicknamed (Abu Muslim al Bahlani), among the influential figures on the occasion of the centenary of his death, died in 1920. This comes in the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference at its headquarters in Paris on November 14, 2019.

It is worth mentioning that this achievement is a continuation of the Sultanate’s efforts to include four globally influential Omani figures on the list of the programme of the fiftieth or centenary anniversary of the important historical events and globally influential figures.
The characters are: the great linguist and founder of the prosody Al Khalil bin Ahmed al Farahidi, who was included in 2006; the physician and pharmacist Rashid bin Omeira, was listed in 2013, and the encyclopedic and social reformer Shaikh Nur A’Din al Salmi, who was listed in 2015, and finally the physicist and Omani physician Abu Mohammed al Azdi known (Ibn al Dhahabi) and was listed in 2015.

The inclusion of the great Omani poet Abu Muslim was the culmination of the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Education represented by the Omani National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, in the selection of the characters that meet the UNESCO criteria, in addition to the preparation of the nomination file in an integrated manner taking into account the required technical aspects.

Abu Muslim al Bahlani was chosen as a poet and pioneer of the Diaspora journalism in Zanzibar, and his global influence has extended beyond the borders of the homeland to many parts of the Arab world and East Africa. Thus, the name of the great poet of Oman will be immortalized in the list of the world’s creators. –ONA

Abū Muslim al-Bahlānī was an Omani poet, born in Oman in 1860 who spent most of his life in Zanzibar where he died in 1920. His poetry is a good example of a strong link between art and politics. While the themes are centred around criticizing society and aiming to instigate revolution against people who do not follow Islamic laws, the techniques create harmony in the structure of this discourse. The author argues that this poetry is based on Ibāḍī sulūk, which itself can be considered as an extension of the Kharijite trend. Although, sulūk is linked with zuhd as a way of giving less value to this life, sulūk has some other implications which do not exist with zuhd. Hence, sulūk is not only a way of worshipping God, it is also a set of ideas which aim to change society and establish an Ibāḍī imamate. This attitude can be found with some sulūk leaders such as Jā'id al-Kharūṣī and Sa'īd al-Khalīlī.