Oman records 87.7% total-population male circumcision prevalence (Morris 2016), depressed from near-universal among nationals by an ~40% expatriate workforce. The Ibadhi angle is distinctive: Oman is one of only two Ibadhi-majority countries in the world (Zanzibar being the other significant community), making it an unusual case among Muslim-majority nations. Ibadhi Islam accepts khitan in line with other major schools; no Ibadhi-specific exception was found in available sources, though dedicated Ibadhi jurisprudential texts on circumcision were not independently located.
Oman records 87.7% total-population male circumcision prevalence in the Morris 2016 global model. As with other Gulf states, this figure is depressed from near-universal by an approximately 40% expatriate workforce that includes large communities of non-Muslim South and Southeast Asian workers. Among Omani nationals, who are Muslim to effectively 100%, circumcision (khitan) is practised near-universally as an established religious and cultural tradition.
Oman presents a distinctive angle in the comparative study of Islamic circumcision practice: it is one of the world's only two Ibadhi-majority countries (the other significant Ibadhi community being in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with smaller communities in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya). Ibadism is the third major branch of Islam alongside Sunni and Shia, with an estimated 2.72 million adherents worldwide. Ibadhi Islam is not a sect of Sunni or Shia Islam but a fully independent tradition. It shares the five pillars of Islam and the Quran as foundational but has its own jurisprudential tradition (fiqh). The Wikipedia article on Ibadism notes Ibadhi acceptance of khitan, which aligns with the near-universal Islamic practice; however, a primary Ibadhi jurisprudential text specifically addressing circumcision was not independently located during research. This is an honest gap: the absence of a confirmed Ibadhi-specific circumcision source does not mean Ibadhi practice differs from broader Islamic tradition — it means the specific fiqh documentation was not found.
There is no Omani statute, royal decree, or ministerial regulation specifically governing non-therapeutic male circumcision. The practice operates under general healthcare licensing requirements. Circumcision is performed routinely in Oman's medicalised healthcare system. Female genital mutilation is a separate matter governed by separate provisions and must not be conflated with male circumcision.
Oman has a concentrated HIV epidemic, with general-population prevalence below 0.1% (UNAIDS). The country is not a WHO VMMC priority country. No Oman-specific circumcision complication or mortality series was identified; the nearest regional proxy is Hedjazi et al. 2012 (Iran, 38 deaths over ten years primarily from lidocaine hypersensitivity), whose practitioner-training-gap finding may not apply to Oman's medicalised system.
