ABSTRACT
It was in the interests of al-umma and al-wa. tan, in order to reunite the country and free it from foreign occupation, that an agreement was reached in 1624 between the two schools of Nazwa and al-Rustaq, as a result of which Naser ibn Murshed al-Ya=rubi (1624-1649) was elected. Oman was then embarking on an exceptionally important phase in its modern history, one during which the imama was reconstructed and the social unity of the country realised. Then Sultan ibn Sayf (1649-1688), a man of skill and rare strategy, succeeded Naser ibn Murshed, liberated Oman, drove the Portuguese out of East Africa and built the ‘Arab-African’ state of Oman. This period saw the Ibadi model of an Islamic State take shape.
