Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (محمد بن زايد آل نهيان; born 11 March 1961), popularly known by his initials as MBZ or MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who currently serves as the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was born in Al Ain on 11 March 1961, in what was then the Trucial States.
He is the third son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his third wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi.
Mohamed has 18 brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Issa, Nahyan, Saif, Tahnoun, Hamed, Mansour, Falah, Theyab, Abdullah, Omar, Khalid, the late Khalifa, the late Sultan, the late Saeed, the late Nasser, and the late Ahmed.
In addition to these, he has eleven sisters.
He has five younger full brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, Mansour, and Abdullah.
They are referred to as Bani Fatima - or sons of Fatima.
Sheikh Mohamed attended schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and a summer at Gordonstoun until the age of 18.
In the Emirates, his father put a respected Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Islamic scholar named Izzedine Ibrahim in charge of his education.
1979
MBZ completed his education in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Al Ain, and graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 1979.
In 1979, he joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst graduating in April 1979.
During his time at Sandhurst, he completed a fundamental armor course, a fundamental flying course, a parachutist course, and training on tactical planes and helicopters, including the Gazelle squadron.
2003
In November 2003, Sheikh Zayed appointed his son Mohamed as deputy crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
2004
MBZ became the crown prince of Abu Dhabi in 2004, following the death of his father and his brother, Sheikh Khalifa becoming the president of the UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
Upon the death of his father, Sheikh Mohamed became crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004 and was appointed deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces in January 2005.
Later that month, he was promoted to the rank of general.
Since December 2004 he has also been the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, which is responsible for the development and planning of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council.
He also served as a special adviser to his older half-brother, Khalifa bin Zayed, president of the UAE at the time.
2005
He later joined the UAE Military, and held various posts before becoming a pilot in the UAE Air Force; he was promoted to general in 2005.
2014
In 2014, Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke; then MBZ became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE.
MBZ officially became president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi following the death of his brother on 13 May 2022.
On 29 March 2023, MBZ appointed his son Sheikh Khalid as crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
Academics have characterized the UAE under MBZ as an authoritarian or authoritarian capitalist country.
Since becoming de facto president, the UAE went through a period of economic liberalization, including the introduction of VAT, corporate taxes and bankruptcy laws; the elimination of gas subsidies, the removal of curbs of foreign ownership of businesses and the decriminalization of bounced cheques.
The UAE also went through some social liberalization, including the de jure removal of corporal punishment and Sharia law outside of blood money claims and personal status matters of Muslims; the decriminalization of co-habitation, extra-marital relationships and alcohol consumption by Muslims; a legal process of children born outside of wedlock; and civil courts for personal status matters of non-Muslims.
MBZ is known to oppose Islamism, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and Iranian-backed groups.
2016
Sheikh Mohamed is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the first president of the UAE and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi.
During his time in Sandhurst, he met and became good friends with Abdullah of Pahang, who would later become the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia.
They were both officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Mohamed then returned home to the UAE to join the Officers' Training Course in Sharjah.
He has held a number of roles in the UAE military, from that of an officer in the Amiri Guard (now called Presidential Guard) to a pilot in the UAE Air Force.
2017
The UAE was a party in the 2017 - 2021 Qatar diplomatic crisis, based on claims that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood.
MBZ maintained a close relationship with former US President Donald Trump, with reports that MBZ convinced Trump to take a hard-stance on Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.
2019
Since becoming de facto president, the UAE participated in the war against ISIS and was officially part of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen until the UAE withdrew their troops in 2019.
The UAE disagreed with Saudi Arabia's approach in the war for its support of Al-Islah, a party the UAE considers close to the Muslim Brotherhood; but maintains its support of the Southern Transitional Council.
MBZ fell out with the Obama administration on the Iran nuclear deal and supported the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
In 2019, The New York Times named him as the most powerful Arab ruler, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019 by Time magazine.
In 2023, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre ranked MBZ as the eighth-most influential Muslim.
2020
In September 2020, the UAE signed the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize diplomatic relationship with Israel brokered by Trump.
The UAE has more recently been involved in an economic rivalry with Saudi Arabia, and opposed Saudi efforts for OPEC+ production cuts.
