Ahmad ibn Said had succeeded in uniting…

Ahmad ibn Said had succeeded in uniting Oman under an Ibadi imamate, but the religious nature of his family's authority does not last long.

His son, Said ibn Ahmad Al Said, had been elected to the imamate after him, but no other family member has won the official approval of the religious establishment.

As a result, the Al Said call themselves sultans, a secular title having none of the religious associations of imam.

They further distance themselves from Ibadi traditions by moving their capital from Ar Rustaq, a traditional Ibadi center in the interior, to the trading center of Muscat.

As a result of the move, the dichotomy between coast and interior that had traditionally split Oman is reinstituted.