蜜芽传媒

Ask members of any faith in Oman what it鈥檚 like to live there, and almost everyone will extol the virtues of the country鈥檚 absolute monarch, Sultan Qaboos.

Oman鈥檚 short-lived version of the Arab uprisings appears to bear this out: protests over unemployment quickly subsided after the Sultan promised jobs and benefits.

In the second part of her series, Mounira Chaieb examines what Sultan Qaboos鈥� 鈥渂enevolent dictatorship鈥� has done for the country鈥檚 climate of exceptional religious tolerance.

We hear how Oman鈥檚 dominant branch of Islam - the Ibadis - relates to the country鈥檚 Sunnis and Shias, who 鈥� uniquely in the Muslim world 鈥� are both in the minority here.

But does the country鈥檚 lack of democracy diminish the value of its policy of religious tolerance? And what does the future hold for Oman when the Sultan鈥檚 rule comes to an end?

Picture: Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Credit: Mohammed Mahjoub/AFP/Getty Images