The Ghāfirī (also ''Ghafiri'' or ''al-Ghafiriyah'') are one of two major tribal confederations of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and the

Trucial Coast The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, or Trucial Oman, was a group of tribal confederations to the south of the Persian Gulf (southeastern Arabia) whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces ...

, the other being the Hināwī. Both confederations claim their origin to the Bedouin tribe and the Ghafiri also trace their roots to the

Nizari Nizari Isma'ilism () are the largest segment of the Isma'ilism, Ismailis, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasise independent reasoning or ''ijtihad''; Pluralism (philosophy), pluralism— ...

or Adnani tribes. Both groups provided support to the ruling sultans to further their own interests.. The Ghafiri are a mixture of Ibadhi and Sunni Muslims.

History

The Ghafiri confederation of the Ibāḍī

Imamate The term imamate or ''imamah'' (, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a Muslim theocratic state ruled by an ''imam''. Theology *Imamate in Shia doctrine, the doctrine of the leadership of the Muslim commu ...

was established in the mid 8th century. In the election of a new imam (leader) who functioned as ”both temporal and religious leader of the community”, the leaders of both confederations played an important role in governance. The Ghafiris and Hinawis confederations existed during the civil wars in Persia which had resulted from

Nadir Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

’s intervention in the period between 1737–38 and 1742–44. The confederations played a role in the political history of Oman, with Omani tribes being affiliated with one or the other confederation. Because of the Ghafiri's support of Saif ibn Sultan II, a clash occurred between the two confederations in 1748 in which leaders of both tribes died. In the late 19th century, Ghafiri, numbering approximately 20,000 people, lived in the areas of Bereymi Proper and Su'areb. Ghafiri tribes of that time were the Na'im, the Beni Ka'ib, the Beni Kattab and El-Daramikeh. A constant feature of the rivalry of the two groups was also witnessed in the support they provided to the ruling sultans to further their own interests. During the conflicts between the two groups and the rivalry of the imam and the sultan, the British eventually played an intermediary role, and this resulted in a stable Sultanate in Oman which lasted between 1920 and 1954.

Culture

Many of the Ghafiri's religious affiliation is Sunni Muslim, abiding by the

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

tenets , whislt others such as the Banu Riyam, are Ibadhi . Na'im are Ghafiri by political affiliation. Although rivalry continues in the modern day between Ghafiri and Hinawis, it is generally limited to their opposing football teams.

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * {{Demographics of Oman Ethnic groups in Oman Ethnic groups in the Middle East