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The spatial distribution of the commercial activities in cities is very important in contemporary urban research and studies. Such inquiry seeks to detect the efficiency and sufficiency in meeting the needs of clients and customers. In this study, the evaluation styles and methods of these activities, distribution patterns, were multiplied and varied between a simple descriptive visual analyses and extending to geographic statistical analysis. This is related to the nature of the data used in the measurement of these phenomena and in the clarification of their role in urbanscape organization. The prime aim of this research focuses on the city of Ghardaia (an Algerian desert city) after it became markedly characterized by the phenomenon of commercial polarization and the multiplicity of population frequency to involving size and varied directions. The study endeavors to recognize the distribution pattern of commercial activities across the urban texture using a variety of statistical indicators, among them: a commercial density indicator, a commercial attraction and concentration indicator, and in addition to employ Kernel analysis to determine the spatial concentration of commercial activities in the Ghardaia cityscape, through multiple types of commercial activities.

Since becoming a nation-state in 1970, Oman's expanding heritage industry has included the restoration of castles and citadels, including the fort at Nizwa. The fort was once the administrative and juridical center of the Ibadi Imamate (1913–58). As the site of sharia adjudication, it sanctioned a past of primarily moral nature, oriented toward God and salvation and grounded in Ibadi doctrine and practice. This mode of history implied that everyday interactions and relationships could be assessed through exemplary forms of morality, as embodied by virtuous forbears. Yet the heritage project in modern Oman has treated history and Islam as seemingly separate, erasing formal awareness of the sociopolitical and ethical relationships that once characterized Ibadi rule. Today, the historical work done by the fort as a heritage site entails a progress-oriented future, reconfiguring Ibadi Islam in the process.

Throughout the twelfth century, a number of Arabic-speaking Muslims produced poetry in the court of the Normans of Sicily. This article examines literary figures active under Roger II in the context of their interlocutors, professional colleagues, and other contemporaries around the western Mediterranean and North Africa. It argues that, in this context, most of the Sicilian Arab literary figures were only secondarily poets, their primary role being within a chancery or other administrative milieu, and that they continued to assert an undiminished Islamic identity, although living under Christian rule. This identity is mirrored in the intertextual play on topoi (maʿānī) found in Sicilian Arabic poetry, which was heavily engaged with cultural activity around the Mediterranean.

This thesis describes the phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of the Arabic variety spoken in the al-ʿAwābī district (northern Oman). This district played an important role in the history of the Ibadism and of Oman in general, especially in the period when Rustāq was capital of the Sultanate (c. 1600 CE). The prominence of the dialect spoken in this area finds evidence in the work Ein arabischer Dialekt gesprochen in ‘Oman und Zanzibar written by Carl Reinhardt in 1894, which constitutes the starting point of this thesis and material for comparison. Reinhardt’s work was presented as a linguistic guide to German soldiers quartered in the Sultanate and in Zanzibar, when part of East Africa was a German colony. This thesis considers the lexical and grammatical core of Reinhardt’s work and aims to reanalyse it considering the vernacular used by present-day inhabitants of al-ʿAwābī town and Wādī Banī Kharūṣ. Chapter 1 offers an overview of the linguistic situation of Oman within the Arabian Peninsula and of the al-ʿAwābī district itself, including remarks on the fieldwork site and the methodology used for this research. Chapter 2 is an account of the phonological characteristics of the dialect spoken in the district, followed by the nominal and verbal morphology (Chapters 3 and 4, respectively), and the syntax (Chapter 5) of the al-ʿAwābī district vernacular. In addition to this core, a prominent part is dedicated in this thesis to the analysis of the rich cultural lexicon used in the district (Chapter 6): foreign borrowings, quadriliteral roots indicating plant and animal names, traditional medicine, clothing, accessories, etc., culminating in the compilation of a lexical glossary organised in roots (Annex 2). Annex 1 presents an overview of the history of the Sultanate, whereas Annex 3 inlcudes a traditional song, and local proverbs.

This dissertation analyzes the ongoing attempts of Omani Ibadis to re-envision Islamic identity in the modern era. Arguably Islam’s oldest distinct sect, Ibadism has offered alternative formulations of Islamic belief and jurisprudence that never claimed the adherence of a majority of Muslims, but thrived in enclaves in Arabia and North and East Africa. Omani Ibadis’ encounter with modernity began around the turn of the 19th century and accelerated after 1970 under Sultan Qaboos. Like Muslims across the globe, the Ibadis of Oman have navigated the transformations of modernity, striving for coherence between their sectarian identity and the evolving world around them. A mixed methodological approach combines textual analysis and fieldwork to examine the modern religious discourse of Ibadi ʿulamāʾ primarily, and of lay Ibadis secondarily. Interviews with 58 diverse individuals offer a window into the reality of public religious life in Oman. The survey of the works of contemporary ʿulamāʾ encompasses books, articles, pamphlets, video lectures, and social media postings. The study of these resources enables a set of observations about the engagements of modern Ibadis with their textual tradition. The modern state’s control over public religious life, the centrality of fear as a recognized and valued tool for inspiring positive behavior, and the concern with presenting Ibadi identity in a way that appeals to a broad Sunni audience are important themes that recur throughout the chapters. Additionally, the language of tolerance emerges as a ubiquitous idiom in contemporary Omani Ibadi discourse, and scholars and lay believers alike express their sect’s distinctiveness in terms of positive relations with religious others. I argue that the spread of Saudi Salafism presents an enduring challenge to Ibadism’s place within the international umma. Here, a study of Salafi scholars’ opinions on Ibadism informs a subsequent exploration of contemporary Ibadis’ responses to those opinions as well as their own discourse on Salafism. Finally, this dissertation documents the recent emergence of the tayyār ʿaqlānī (rationalist stream) of Ibadism, a movement that challenges the state-affiliated Ibadi mainstream and advocates for internal criticism in order to better integrate Ibadism into modernity.