Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi

Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi
Sheikh Saqr
Emir of Ras al-Khaimah
Reign	17 July 1948 - 27 October 2010
Predecessor	Sultan Bin Salem al-Qassimi
Successor	Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi
Spouse	Sheikha Mahra bint Ahmed
Issue
Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi Mohammed bin Saqr Al Qasimi Omar bin Saqr Al Qasimi Talib bin Saqr Al Qasimi Faisal bin Saqr Al Qasimi Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi
Born	c. 1918-1920 [a] Ras Al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Died	27 October 2010 Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates

Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qassimi (c. 1918-1920^[a] – 27 October 2010) was the Emir of Ras al-Khaimah, one of the United Arab Emirates, from 1948 to 2010.

He became the Ruler of Ras al-Khaimah on 17 July 1948,^[1] when he overthrew his uncle and father-in-law Sheikh Sultan Bin Salim al-Qassimi in a bloodless coup d'etat. Saqr exiled Sultan to Sharjah. Under his rule, Ras al-Khaimah joined the United Arab Emirates in 1972. At the time of his death in 2010, he was the world's oldest reigning monarch at age ~90.^[2]

Personal Information

Sheikh Saqr's ancestral line goes back to Rahma Bin Matar Bin Kayid, founder of the Al Qasimi dynasty., which ruled the northern part of the Greater Oman Region following the fall of the Ya’aribah state and the emergence of the Al-Busaidi State in Sohar and Muscat in 1747.^{[citation needed]}

He was born in the city of Ras Al-Khaimah, where he was brought up in an Islamic Arabic environment under the care of his father, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Salim, who ruled the emirate between 1917 and 1919.^[3]

Sheikh Saqr received a religious and an academic education. He learned to read from regionally-renowned clerics as a youth,^[who?] and later joined a semi-regular school in Ras Al Khaimah to further study reading and writing, as well as principles of mathematics. He studied oratory and Arabic arts.^{[citation needed]}

Coup

Abu Musa Island & Greater & Lesser Tunbs Islands, which are presently administered by Iran but are claimed by the UAE

Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al-Qasimi became the ruler of the Sheikhdom of Ras Al Khaimah on 17 July 1948, after a bloodless takeover from his uncle and father-in-law, Sheikh Sultan bin Salim al-Qassimi.

Rise to power

Following the 1948 coup, Sheikh Saqr worked to consolidate his rule, particularly among the Bedouins from the south, the low land mountaineers from the east, and a combination of a group of highland non-Arab pygmies known as the Shihuh and other tribes from the north, all of whom had been sources of opposition to the coup.^{[citation needed]} This result was a period of instability and violence in which Sheikh Saqr's followers battled those opposed to his rule. Misinformation was rife during the unrest, with many combatants unsure whom they were fighting and unaware that Sheikh Sultan Bin Salem Al Qassimi had been exiled to Sharjah.^{[citation needed]}

Politics and Accession to UAE

After Sheikh Saqr gained complete control of Ras Al Khaimah, he began to delegate power through tribal leaders in order to avoid further bloodshed among and facilitate cooperation with the tribes. These tribal leaders functioned as middlemen between Sheikh Saqr and the people of Ras Al Khaimah; no tribal member could meet with the Sheikh without the permission of his respective Sheikh. Though the influence of the tribes has weakened since Ras Al Khaimah joined the United Arab Emirates in 1972, the last emirate to join, the Government continues to delegate through tribal power structures.^{[citation needed]}

Sheikh Saqr refused to support Ras Al-Khaimah's accession to the UAE when it was formed on 2 December 1971, due to a dispute with Iran over a series of disputed islands, two Ras Al Khaimah islands and one Sharjah island. An Iranian naval expeditionary force landed on the islands on 30 November 1970,^{[citation needed]} and Sheikh Saqr wanted guarantees from Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai that the new UAE Federal Government would not relinquish Ras Al-Khaimah's claim to the islands. Once this guarantee was granted, Ras Al-Khaimah joined the UAE on 24 February 1972.^{[citation needed]}

Sheikh Saqr appointed his oldest son, Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, as the Crown Prince of Ras Al Khaimah in 1974. Sheikh Khalid was replaced by another of Sheikh Saqr's sons, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi, on 28 April 2003,^[4] and Khalid chose the Omani capital Muscat for his unconditional exile. The transfer of power marked the first time in the UAE that a Crown Prince had been removed in such a manner; at the time of the decree, and UAE Army soldiers and tanks were deployed around sensitive sites in Ras Al-Khaimah in case of unrest.^[3]

Khalid had a reputation as a supporter of women's rights and a Western reformer, and his wife, Sheikha Fawqai al-Qasami, was a playwright and an active campaigner for women's issues. Sheikh Saud was seen as more of a traditionalist.^[3]

Death and Succession

Sheikh Saqr died, after being ill for several months, on 27 October 2010.^[5] The Crown Prince, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al Qasimi, was reported to be his successor. Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi posted a web video proclaiming himself ruler of Ras al-Khaimah^[6] shortly after the Sheikh Saqr's death. The video was a part of a broader campaign Khalid had launched to gain the support of the U.S. and regional power brokers.^[3][7]

Khalid reportedly had little support among the tribes of Ras al-Khaimah or the leaders of the other six emirates. The Federal Supreme Council, made up of the rulers of each of the UAE's seven emirates, quickly declared its support for Sheikh Saud's succession.^[8] Sheikh Saud declared 40 days of mourning following his appointment.^[2]

Notes

a^{1 2} : A few sources such as The Daily Telegraph^[3] and the Khaleej Times^[9] gave 9 April 1918 as Saqr's birth date at a time when this date was in Wikipedia. However, given the absence of a record-keeping administration in the Trucial States at the time, it is unlikely that his birth can be dated with such precision. For instance, Reuters states that Saqr was "believed to be in his late 90s" at the time of his death,^[10] while the BBC asserts that he "was in his early 90s" when he died.^[8] Many reputable sources (such as the Library of Congress Country Studies,^[11] reports from the British Foreign Office,^[12] and Burke's Peerage^[13]) give 1920 as Saqr's year of birth.

References

1. ^ "The United Arab Emirates at a glance". Associated Press Archive (NewsLibrary). 2 November 2004. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=APAB&d_place=APAB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1066D3D6659360FA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2009-06-22. "Sheik Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, who has ruled since 1948, is the world's longest-serving ruler."  (Payment required)
2. ^ ^{a b} [1]
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad al Qasimi". The Daily Telegraph. 27 October 2010. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/8090838/Sheikh-Saqr-bin-Mohammad-al-Qasimi.html. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
4. ^ http://www.arabianbusiness.com/ruler-of-ras-al-khaimah-dies-358330.html
5. ^ "UAE mourns Ras Al Khaimah ruler"
6. ^ http://rakforthepeople.com/
7. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,704728,00.html Spiegel Online, 5 July 2010
8. ^ ^{a b} "Ruler of UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah dies". BBC News. 27 October 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11634256. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
9. ^ "A national loss". Khaleej Times. 28 October 2010. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/editorial/2010/October/editorial_October52.xml&section=editorial&col=. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
10. ^ "Ruler of UAE's Ras Al Khaimah emirate dies". Reuters. 27 October 2010. http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE69Q0WA20101027?sp=true. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
11. ^ Eric Hooglund; Anthony Toth. "Ruling Families". United Arab Emirates: A country study (Helen Chapin Metz, ed.). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (December 1992).
12. ^ Preston, Paul; Partridge, Michael, eds (2005). British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print. Part V, From 1951 through 1956. Series B, Near and Middle East, 1951. Bethesda, MD: LexisNexis. p. 140. ISBN 9780886927202. http://books.google.com/books?id=-c2PAAAAMAAJ&q=Saqr+1920. 
13. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed (1980). "United Arab Emirates". Burke's Royal Families of the World. Volume II: Africa & the Middle East. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 116. ISBN 9780850110296. http://books.google.com/books?id=bnsUAQAAIAAJ&q=1920+Ghurair. 

External links

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Persondata
Name	Al-Qassimi, Saqr bin Mohammad
Alternative names
Short description	Sheikhs of Ras al-Khaimah
Date of birth
Place of birth	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
Date of death	27 October 2010
Place of death	Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates