Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (1 January 1952 – 12 July 2026) was Emir of Qatar from 1995 until his abdication in 2013, after which he was styled the Father Emir. ¹

During his eighteen-year rule he developed Qatar's natural gas, in particular liquefied natural gas, which reached 77 million tonnes in annual production and made Qatar the richest country in the world per capita. ¹ He founded Qatar Foundation, Al Jazeera and the Qatar Museums Authority, and Qatar won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup during his reign. ¹ He is often called the founding father of modern Qatar. ¹

Hamad was born in Doha, Qatar, on 1 January 1952. His mother died soon after his birth and he was raised by his uncle. He received his early education in Qatar. ^{1 2}

He graduated from the British Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1971 and was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in Qatar's armed forces. A few months later he returned to Qatar and was made commander of a mobile brigade, which later became a force called "Hamad Brigade". In 1972 he had the rank of general and became army chief of staff; he was then appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces and, in 1977, minister of defence. ¹

Hamad was appointed heir apparent in 1977. From 1992 his father began gradually handing over responsibility for the day-to-day running of the country, including the development of Qatar's oil and natural gas resources. ¹

After securing the support of most senior members of his family, as well as that of the United States, Hamad staged a bloodless coup d'état on 27 June 1995 while his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, was on vacation in Geneva, and became Emir of Qatar. ^{1 2}

He served as his own prime minister until 29 October 1996, when he named his half-brother Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani to the post. A counter-coup was attempted against him in February 1996; it failed, and several of Qatar's traditional Arab allies were implicated in the plot. ¹

As emir, Hamad ruled as an absolute monarch, with supreme authority over all branches of state power, and no political parties were allowed. ¹ At the same time he is credited with the adoption of Qatar's first permanent constitution and with elections to the advisory Central Municipal Council. ¹

Hamad established the Qatar Investment Authority. By 2013 it had invested over $100 billion around the world, including in The Shard, Barclays Bank, Heathrow Airport, Harrods, Paris Saint-Germain, Volkswagen, Siemens and Royal Dutch Shell. ¹

Qatar began hosting two United States military bases under his rule while also maintaining relations across the region's divides, and Doha hosted events including the 2006 Asian Games, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference. ¹

In one of his first acts as emir in 1995, Hamad established the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. His second wife, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, became a visible advocate for education and children's rights, in a break with the traditional role of an emir's wife. ¹

In the arts, he established the Qatar Museums Authority in 2005, which built the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, designed by I. M. Pei. Qatar became the world's biggest contemporary art buyer during his reign. ¹

He played an active role in promoting sport in Qatar. The defining sporting achievement of his reign was considered to have occurred in December 2010, when Qatar was awarded the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making it the first Arab and Muslim country to host the tournament. ¹

He was also noted for founding Al Jazeera, the satellite news channel based in Doha. ¹

On 25 June 2013, Hamad handed over power to his son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in a televised speech, saying the time had come to open a new page in the journey of the country. ^{1 2} The voluntary handover to a son, rather than a coup, was without precedent among the Gulf rulers of his generation. ³

Following his abdication he became known as the Father Emir. ¹

Hamad was believed to have suffered from poor health for several years. He underwent his first kidney transplant in 1997 and at least one more at a later date, and later went on dialysis. In December 2015 he was flown to Zurich for treatment after breaking his leg while on vacation in Morocco. ¹

Hamad died in Doha on 12 July 2026, at the age of 74. The Qatari government declared four days of national mourning with flags at half mast. ^{1 4}

In their obituary, The New York Times stated that under his reign Hamad oversaw Qatar's transformation from a "little-known desert peninsula" into a country with vast wealth and global influence. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.