Sheikh Saqr bin Moḥammed Al Qasimi was the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate on the Persian Gulf, from 1948 to 2010. On 10 February 1972, under his leadership, Ras Al Khaimah become the seventh Trucial State to join the United Arab Emirates. He became the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah on 17 July 1948, when he overthrew his paternal uncle and father-in-law Sheikh Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi in a bloodless coup d'etat. Sheikh Saqr exiled Sultan to Sharjah. At the time of his death in 2010, Sheikh Saqr was the world's oldest reigning monarch at age ~90.
Early life and education
Sheikh Saqr was born in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, where he was brought up in the care of his father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Salim, who ruled the emirate as regent for his ailing and paralysed father Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi between 1917 and 1919. However, upon Mohammed bin Salim's death, his younger brother Sultan bin Salim took power. Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi was recognised by the British as the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah in 1921. Sheikh Saqr received a religious and primary education. He learned to read from regionally renowned clerics as a youth, 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.
Rise to power
Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammed Al Qasimi became the Ruler of the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah on 17 July 1948, after a bloodless coup against Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi, who had allegedly neglected his subjects and alienated them by secretly signing oil concessions with British company PCL. His early years in power necessitated meeting the challenge posed by the Shihuh, a tribe affiliated to the Sultan of Muscat, who nevertheless lived and had holdings and customary rights in both the mountainous and coastal areas of Ras Al Khaimah, for instance the previously rebellious village of Sha'am. Both these and the oft-secessionist tribes of Za'ab in Jazirat Al Hamra and the Tanaij of Rams were brought under Ras Al Khaimah or, as in the example of the Za'ab, exiled militarily. The ruler of the Za'ab was among the only 4 independent rulers who signed the first treaty with the British in 1820, while Ras Al Khaimah town was burned by the British and the capital was at Khatt. Also, the current state of Ras Al Khaimah was only recognised in 1921. A British general travelling in 1925 also spoke about the Za'ab as a state independent of any other sheikhdom.
After Sheikh Saqr gained complete control of Ras Al Khaimah, he began to delegate power through tribal leaders in order to avoid further bloodshed and to 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 Emir without the permission of his respective Wali, or Sheikh. Sheikh Saqr initially 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 Persian Gulf islands that had prior to British domination of the region been administered by the Rulers of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. Following the evacuation of the British and prior to the establishment of the UAE, an Iranian naval expeditionary force landed on the islands on 30 November 1970. Sheikh Saqr made his approval of Ras Al Khaimah joining the UAE contingent on the promise by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum of Dubai that the new UAE Federal Government would support Ras Al Khaimah's claim to the islands. Having obtained this promise, Ras Al Khaimah joined the UAE on 10 February 1972. 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, 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; and, at the time of the decree, UAE Army soldiers and tanks were deployed around sensitive sites in Ras Al Khaimah in case of unrest. Khalid had a reputation as a supporter of women's rights and a Western reformer, and his wife, Sheikha Fawqai Al Qasimi, was a playwright and an active campaigner for women's issues. Sheikh Saud, however, was latterly seen by his father as a more appropriate choice as his successor, with one local official saying he was deemed "more suitable to implementing the interests of the UAE and its people". Sheikh Saud has gone on to prove himself to be a leader with a keen focus on developing the emirate.
Death and succession
Sheikh Saqr died on 27 October 2010 after being ill for several months. The Crown Prince, Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, is his successor. Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi posted a web video proclaiming himself ruler of Ras Al Khaimah shortly after Sheikh Saqr's death. The video was part of a broader campaign Khalid had launched to gain the support of the U.S. and regional power brokers. 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. Sheikh Saud declared 40 days of mourning following his appointment.
