Tamim bin Hamad was born on 3 June 1980 in Doha, Qatar. He is the fourth son of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and second son of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Hamad’s second wife. Tamim was educated at Great Britain’s Sherborne School (International College) in Dorset, and at Harrow School, where he sat his A-Levels in 1997. He then attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating in 1998.

Sheikh Tamim was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Qatar Armed Forces upon graduation from Sandhurst. He became the heir apparent to the Qatar throne on 5 August 2003, when his elder brother Sheikh Jassim renounced his claim to the title. Since then he was groomed to take over rule, working in top security and economics posts. On 5 August 2003, he was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of Qatar’s armed forces.

Sheikh Tamim promoted sport as part of Qatar’s bid to raise its international profile. In 2005 he founded Oryx Qatar Sports Investments, which owns Paris Saint-Germain F.C. among other investments. In 2006, he chaired the organizing committee of the 15th Asian Games in Doha. Under his leadership, all member countries attended the event for the first time in its history. That year Egypt’s Al Ahram voted Tamim “the best sport personality in the Arab world”. Under his guidance, Qatar won the rights to host the 2014 FINA Swimming World Championships and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Tamim is a member of the International Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Committee chairman. He headed Doha’s bid for the 2020 Olympics. The country will host the football World Cup in 2022. Qatar is expected to spend about $100 billion on infrastructure to prepare for the event.

Sheikh Tamim married his first wife (his second cousin) Sheikha Jawahir bint Hamad Al Thani on 8 January 2005 (with whom he shares a great-grandfather, Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani). They have four children, two sons and two daughters:

Sheikh Tamim married a second wife, Sheikha Al-Anoud bint Mana Al Hajri, on 3 March 2009. She is the daughter of Mana bin Abdul Hadi Al Hajri, former Qatari Ambassador to Jordan. They have five children, three daughters and two sons:

Some countries and regional analysts have claimed that Qatar has supported a spectrum of Islamist groups around the region. Especially since the beginning of the Arab Spring upheaval in 2011, the country has provided diplomatic and medical initiatives, and warnings to Islamist groups. There have also been claims that the Qatar-based pan-Arab satellite television channel Al Jazeera promoted the narratives of the Islamist parties and causes supported by Qatar, thereby contributing to the electoral success of some of these movements during national polls. . However, Al Jazeera maintains that it was under pressure because “it is the most transparent, balanced and unbiased of all Arab channels”. The channel previously hosted a talk-show, “al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh” (“Shariah and Life”), featuring the controversial Brotherhood-associated Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

In fact, during his first months in charge he has prioritized the Gulf. In late October 2013, only a few months after taking charge, Sheikh Tamim took a regional tour of the Gulf. Even before his accession to power, he formally represented his father at the annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Bahrain in December 2012 as well as in welcoming delegates to the Arab League Summit in Doha in March 2013.

Qatar called for a military intervention by Arab countries to end the bloodshed in Syria in 2012. Analysts expected that he would have been under immediate pressure to reduce Qatar’s support for the rebels in the Syrian Civil War, which Tamim had previously supported. In fact, Sheikh Tamim took a step back after taking charge, primarily in response to the irritation voiced by Western powers at Qatar’s operation to arm Syrian rebel groups which had been directed haphazardly. Recently, under the aegis of a joint initiative with Saudi Arabia and Turkey promoted by Sheikh Tamim, Qatar has provided Syrian rebels with new weapons and forged a new opposition coalition in Syria known as “Army of Conquest.” The Sheikh has also renewed his country’s support for the Syrian people’s demands for justice and freedom during a meeting with the chief of the Syrian National Coalition Khaled Khoja and his delegation in April 2015.

On 25 June 2013, Tamim’s father, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, revealed his own plan to step down as Emir of Qatar in a meeting with his close relatives and aides. Tamim then became the Emir of Qatar after his father handed over power in a televised speech. He was the first ruler, in a succession of three Qatari rulers from the Al Thani family, to ascend to power without resorting to a coup. According to The Economist, of his previous sibling rivals to the throne, “One played too much, the other prayed too much.”

According to his inaugural speech to the nation held on 26 June 2013, Sheikh Tamim will continue to diversify the country’s economy away from hydrocarbons. On that occasion, he declared that people are Qatar’s “most important asset” and that their interests would be the government’s top priority.

Qatar heavily invested in loans and aid to Egypt during the Muslim Brotherhood’s government. In August 2013, Qatar joined a U.S.-led attempt to mediate the escalating tension between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military. Speaking at Georgetown University during his first visit to the United States, Tamim reiterated that Qatar will not interfere in Egypt although he condemned what happened in Egypt after the 2013 coup. Since Mohamed Morsi’s removal from office, the new government has turned down Qatari offers for financial aid. Qatar’s continued support for the Muslim Brotherhood resulted in a diplomatic rift between Doha and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in 2014, culminating in the withdrawal of the latter three countries’ ambassadors in March of that year. In June 2016, former president of Egypt Mohamed Morsi was given a life sentence for accusations of passing state secrets to Qatar.

Analysts claim that both Qatar and Saudi Arabia are engaged in proxy wars in Syria and Libya. Tamim in particular played a role in the mediation with Taliban leaders, with whom he initiated contacts under his father’s government. The United States requested the establishment of a Taliban office in Doha. In June 2013, the Taliban opened their first official overseas office in the Qatari capital as part of the long-standing attempt to broker a long-term Afghan peace agreement. In June 2015, Qatar successfully mediated efforts to free four Tajikistan soldiers kidnapped in December 2014 in Afghanistan by a Taliban group.

In 2014, Tamim passed new cybercrime legislation, which was said to be part of an agreement among Gulf states to criminalize online insults of the region’s royal families; The cybercrime law outlaws the spreading of “false news” as well as digital material that violates the country’s “social values” or “general order”. The legislation made it illegal to incite, aid and facilitate the publication of offensive material. The law has been criticized by those who say that it can be used to strip people of their human rights based on the misinterpretation of online chatter. Amnesty International called the law “a major setback for freedom of expression in Qatar”, while other critics suggest that the new law will violate provisions of the country’s constitution that protect civil liberties.

Tamim signed a military cooperation agreement with Turkey during an official visit to the country in December 2014. The agreement aims to promote cooperation in military training and the defense industry, and allows for the deployment of the Turkish Armed Forces to Qatar and the Qatari military to Turkey.

In October 2014, Sheikh Tamim met UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Queen Elizabeth II on his first official visit to the UK. Qatar and the UK anticipated a Qatari-British Economic Forum to explore mutual investment opportunities. Up to and during this meeting The Telegraph newspaper launched a campaign to urge Cameron to discuss Qatar’s funding of Islamic extremists with Tamim. Stephen Barclay, the Tory MP, repeatedly called for transparency in Britain’s dealings with Qatar and said it was “essential” for Mr Cameron to raise the issue of terror finance “I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister is meeting with the Emir,” he said. “As part of these discussions it is essential that the issue of financing Sunni tribes in Syria and Iraq is raised.”

In July 2014, Tamim renewed the defence agreement with the U.S. and confirmed Qatar’s cooperation with the U.S. in the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base.

On 25 February 2014, Sheikh Tamim married a third wife, Sheikha Noora bint Hathal Aldosari. They have three sons and one daughter:

The country’s support for Islamist causes and for organizations that oppose the absolute rule of the Gulf’s hereditary rulers provoked tensions with the GCC countries. In March 2014 Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar. Officially, the decision was motivated by Qatar’s alleged refusal to ratify the agreements of non-interference in domestic policy within the GCC in December 2013. Some analysts observed that the diplomatic crisis was the peak of long-time degenerated relationships of Qatar with the Arab countries, who have rebuked Qatar for allegedly backing Islamists during Arab Spring revolts and are supportive of the new military-oriented Egyptian regime.

According to the German regional public service television channel WDR, several of its reporters were detained for several days in Qatar for collecting evidence on the conditions of migrant workers. The Guardian has reported that Nepalese migrants building the infrastructure to host the 2022 World Cup died at a rate of one every two days in 2014. Human Rights Watch’s “2014 World Report” confirmed the precarious conditions of the migrant workers, who sometimes live in unsanitary conditions and are subject to arbitrary restrictions on the right to leave Qatar, exploitation and abuse by employers. In response, Qatar commissioned an investigation by the international law firm DLA Piper that resulted in laws that require contractors to provide improved living conditions and ban them from seizing passports. The Emir of Qatar reformed by law the kafala system the following year.

Sheikh Tamim has maintained a strong relationship with the Indian government. On 25 March 2015, he visited India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the government “trusts” the Indian economy so they would invest in India. Last time Sheikh Tamim met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on 23 September 2019, at the residence of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Talks during the meeting dealt with the bilateral relations and ways of developing them in various aspects of cooperation, especially in the political and economic areas, to serve the interests of the two friendly people.

On 2 December 2015, Tamim signed a number of agreements with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Cooperative agreements in education, maritime transport and correspondence pacts between intelligence agencies were signed. An agreement was also reached by Turkey to purchase liquefied natural gas from Qatar over a lengthy duration. The two leaders also announced the planned creation of a Turkish military base in Qatar; a first for Turkey in the Persian Gulf.

Sheikh Tamim visited U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on a visit to Washington, D.C. on 24 February 2015, according to a statement issued by the Office of the White House Press Secretary. Doha-based analysts described the task before him during the visit as one of balancing the need to maintain strong relations with the United States against the desire for Qatar to control its own foreign policy, which is sometimes at odds with the United States on key regional issues. He declared that the U.S.-Qatari “strategic partnership has deepened in recent years, in spite of the regional unrest” and reiterated his commitment to support a more comprehensive approach to the strategic challenges facing the Middle East.

In January 2016, Tamim shook up the cabinet put in place by his father. He named a new foreign minister, replacing Khalid al-Attiyah with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, changed the defense minister and appointed a new female minister. Tamim also merged several ministries, including communication, transport and culture, and youth and sports. Journalists have speculated reasons behind the cabinet shake up. Some have come to the conclusion that the reorganization was either an economic move, meant to save the country money at a time where the falling price of gas has forced the country to scale back its workforce or for reasons of political stability. According to others the appointments showed that Tamim was trying to make the government his own by bringing in a new, younger generation of ministers that were more loyal to him than to his father.

During the 2016 May Day celebration in Bonn, Germany, an Amnesty campaigner named Bettina Hoffmann took the opportunity to protest Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who she claims is indifferent to the struggle of the foreign workers. She said that Amnesty is concerned about the tens of thousands of Asian workers who are working on football stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Amnesty estimates some 70,000 labourers – many from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – are quasi slaves in the Gulf state, which is ruled by Qatar’s Emir. Hoffmann says the foreign workers must give up their passports, receive late wages if they receive wages at all, and are voiceless. The worst part, she says, is the response of the Emir who seems to be indifferent to the dangerous conditions of the workers.

Two laws protecting workers’ rights, which included clauses on maximum working hours and rights to annual leave, were passed by Sheikh Tamim in 2017. The next year, Sheikh Tamim passed Law No. 13 of 2018, abolishing exit visas for roughly 95% of the country’s migrant workers. The remaining 5% of workers, which amount to approximately 174,000 people, still require their employer’s permission to exit the country. While stating that more needs to be done to protect the rights of Qatar’s workers, at the same time Stephen Cockburn of Amnesty claimed that the Emir had taken an “important first step towards meeting the authorities’ promise to fundamentally reform the exploitative sponsorship system”.

On August 2018, Qatar pledged $15 billion investment in Turkey, during currency crisis amid a diplomatic standoff with US. The investment package was announced after Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, on 15 August 2018.

In July 2019, Sheikh Tamim visited the US to meet President Donald Trump and discuss the latest regional and international developments. A state dinner to welcome Tamim was organized at the White House with “who’s who of people in business”, including Robert Kraft and Christine Lagarde The meeting concluded with an enhanced economic partnership between both the countries, with Qatar agreeing to do business with major US companies, including Boeing, Gulfstream, Raytheon and Chevron Phillips Chemical.

In January 2019, a Reuters investigation revealed that a team of former US government intelligence operatives working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates had hacked the iPhones of activists, diplomats and foreign leaders, including Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Beginning in 2016 the spying tool, codenamed ‘Karma’, enabled the UAE to monitor hundreds of individuals identified as potential critics of, or threats to, the Emirati government and its ideology. The hacking unit using the tool, known as ‘Project Raven’, was based in Abu Dhabi and composed of local security officials and former US intelligence operatives working for the UAE’s intelligence services. Ex-Project Raven operatives described how Karma was able to remotely gain access to iPhones, including that of Sheikh Tamim’s, by uploading numbers or email addresses into an automated targeting system. According to Reuters the phones of Sheikh Tamim’s brother as well as several associates were also hacked by the Project Raven team.

During COVID-19 crisis, on 26 May 2020, Sheikh Tamim spoke on phone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said he appreciated the contributions made by the Indian community living in Qatar. In particular, he praised those working in the healthcare sector for their huge contribution during the present situation. In turn, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warmly appreciated the personal care taken by H.H. the Amir for ensuring the welfare of the Indian citizens in Qatar during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the adoption on 30 August 2020 of Law No. 19 of 2020, migrant workers can now change jobs before the end of their contract without first having to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their employer. This new law, coupled with the removal of exit permit requirements earlier in the year, effectively dismantles the “kafala” sponsorship system and marks the beginning of a new era for the Qatari labour market.