Sheikh Zayeds Life - Essay Example

HISTORY PROJECT - SHEIKH ZAYED Introduction Zayed Al Nahyan was born in on 1st December 1918 and died in 2nd November 2004. He played a most important role in forming United Arab Emirates. He was the president of UAE. He ruled Abu Dhabi for a long time. In his late eighties he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi. He was involved in government from 1946. He was the most efficient ruler of UAE. Sheikh Zayed was famous for his work and he was loved by most of the people of the country. He took major initiative to form UAE Federation. He was not only the ruler of UAE but also acted a father of the nation. He was the most respected person in Arab. Sheikh Zayed died at the age of 86. His early death shocked all of his followers. Sheikh Zayed is a very important figure in the history of UAE. He has a deep faith on religion. He was a very hard working man for which he was able to improve the condition of the country. He devoted his entire life in service of common people and developing the nation. He tried and implemented every possible way to create a better world. In this case study detailed knowledge of Sheikh Zayed has been given. The early life, political career, family life and Sheikh Zayed contribution to the development of UAE has been discussed. He gained so much popularity in UAE that after his death many monuments, buildings etc were formed by his name. Sheikh Zayed’s early life Sheikh Zayed took birth in Abu Dhabi. He was the son Sheikh Khalifah Al Nahyan. Among his brothers he was the youngest one and son of the monarch of Abu Dhabi. First fifteen years of Sheikh Zayed life he was brought up in Al Ain. He did not have any formal schooling. In his early days he learned different principals of Islam. Sheikh Zayed spent many years in desert with Bedouins, tribesmen. This helped him to match himself and his life with those people, their traditions etc. By this process he developed the ability and capability to survive in difficult and harsh climatic condition. From his childhood Sheikh Zayed faced many challenging and tough environment (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, 2015). This made him understand about the practical scenario which people are facing in the real world. Though he was born and bought up in a rich family but he tried to understand the situation of common people for improving their condition. Sheikh Zayed and his brothers got many lessons from his mother. He promised his mother for not doing any violence. For this reason he had always maintained non violence policies to rule the country. Sheikh Zayed received formal education after the death of this father. This had helped him to shape his character, life and values. From his very childhood Sheikh Zayed was very courageous person. His strong determination and his urge in fighting for honor helped him to gain good reputation (Joffe, 2004). He learned hunting and horse riding in his early days. These were his favorite hobbies. During his school days Sheikh Zayed was very much interested and passionate in poems and Arabic poetry. This interest helped him to enhance his skills about language and made him capable to write many Arabic poems. From his very childhood he has strong dedication and love towards the nation. His patriotic feelings influenced him to join politics. When Sheikh Zayed was born Emirate was underdeveloped and poor. So from his childhood days he focused on improving the condition of his country. He tries to learn many things from his surrounding environment because his school education was confirmed to limited subjects and things. From his early days Sheikh Zayed tried to understand the relationship between environment and human being. This helped him to develop care and concerned about environment (Almazroui, 2013). He inherited leadership qualities and skills from his father and brothers. With the help of his strong family background Sheikh Zayed was able to meet and interact with many people. This benefited him to understand the political situation of his country in compared to other nations. Sheikh Zayed’s family life Sheikh Zayed has four elder brothers. He father Sheikh Khalifah was the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Sultan spent his early days in Abu Dhabi with his family. His family has a strong faith on Islam. From his family members he learned many things about his religion. His family strongly supported all his thoughts and ideas. In his young days Sheikh Sultan moved to Al Ain with his family. He respected his family members very much. After the death of his father one of his elder brothers became the ruler. He guided him to know and understand politics in a better way. Sheikh Zayed had good terms with all of his family members. His mother Sheikha Butti helped him to develop his philosophy and values. Father and uncle of Sheikh Zayed were assassinated (The Cabinet, 2013). The family of Sheikh Zayed was holding powerful position in the society. But every member of his family followed strong principles. They all believed in living simple life. Sheikh Shakhbut the brother of Sheikh Zayed helped him a lot to fulfill his interest and desires. Sheikh Shakhbut trusted Sheikh Zayed and assigned him the duty of guiding the team of geological survey in to carry out their survey in Abu Dhabi desert. Sheikh Zayed’s another brother Sheikh Khalifa was the President of UAE. He ruled the country for a long period of time. The grandfather of Sheikh Zayed was also the ruler of Abu Dhabi. He ruled the country for 54 years. Though Sheikh Zayed belonged from a royal family he lived a very simple and modest life style. He inherited this from his father, mother and brothers. The generous hospitality of Sheikh Zayed’s family was praised by its guests. The family of Sheikh Zayed is considered as one of the most respected royal families of UAE. It was the six ruling family of UAE (Hillyard, 2014). Maximum members of this family are involved in political activities of the country. Sheikh Zayed was influenced by his family members to join politics. The family members supported him in his political activities. Sheikh Zayed was married to six women. All of these women were highly respected as his wives in his family. Sheikh Zayed has total 28 children. Sheikh Zayed’s political career The political career of Sheikh Zayed contributed a lot for making him a famous figure in the history of UAE. He became the representative of ruler of eastern region of Abu Dhabi in 1946. His political career started from that time. He looked after the administration of six villages and desert area of that region. He worked for the betterment of people. He performed his responsibilities very efficiently and as a result he was able to improve in those areas. In his initial days of political career he made many small scale developments. The ownership of local water was revised by him. It ensured common people to get water. He also made various agricultural developments. The first modern school of Al Ain was developed by him. Sheikh Zayed planned and designed the city of Al Ain. This city is the greenest city in Arabia. Abu Dhabi had Sheikh Zayed has its ruler in 1966. He had utilized every possible opportunity to develop emirate. He was the first rule who exported crude oil from Abu Dhabi in 1962. This helped the country to generate huge revenue. For the development of the country this leader established many construction programs for developing hospitals, schools subways, roads etc. To some extent Zayed changed the political system of UAE. He rejected the practice of multi party democracy and established the rule of electing the President of the country in every five years. He had promoted female literacy campaign with the help of his wife Sheikha Fatima (UAEinteract, 2015). With this campaign he encouraged the women to take part in politics and work. He was very efficient in dealing with his family rival Maktoum family. He balanced his power and position by working with his rival family. With the help of his political powers Sheikh Zayed made Dubai as a prosperous city. He encouraged the growth and development of media and internet in Dubai. In 1971 he developed United Arab Emirates by merging six other nations. In that year he became the Prime Minister of UAE. He was elected by fellow rulers and supported by large number of people for becoming the Prime Minister of UAE. For revolting against Saddam Hussein Sheikh Zayed joined US-led coalition. For his political activities Zayed became the international leader. After the attack of 9/11 he cut the ties up with Taliban regime of Afghanistan. As a political leader he provided many facilities and benefits to the people. For his political contribution UAE is experiencing a good economic position. Sheikh Zayed contribution in making United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed was the founder of UAE. Through his political and social activities he was able to merge six other nations for establishing United Arab Emirates. Sheikh Zayed’s contribution and efforts in forming UAE is marked in the history of this nation. On the basis of religion Sheikh Zayed selected six nations for forming UAE. Religion helped the nations to form a strong bonding among each other. With the help of this merger Sheikh Zayed shared the heritage and history of those nations in such a way which helped United Arab Emirates to develop itself. He established the ideas of mutual support, co-operations etc for enhancing the bonding between the nations. He developed a new flag for UAE. For developing UAE he had given huge effort to convince the neighboring nations of Abu Dhabi. The establishment of UAE became internationally famous. For that reason Sheikh Zayed developed different aspects of the countries by using his political power. He implemented various rules and policies improving health technology, education, trade of the country. This helped the nation to improve its economic condition. He implemented plans for utilizing the resources of UAE in the most effective way. This helped the country to develop economic condition by exporting crude oil to other countries. He encouraged women to take part in the development process of UAE. The country made various international tie ups with other nations during the rule of Sheikh Zayed. It enhanced the international relationship UAE with other nations. Earlier the Arabian countries faced many problems regarding water and agriculture. As a political leader of this country the Sheikh Zayed improved the agricultural system and water facilities of the nation. He encouraged people to learn new things and use modern technology for improving their lives. He made significant economic growth of the country with the help of its agricultural products. He developed plans for building city and increasing greenery. He influenced people in planning many trees. He provided a better quality life to the people residing in UAE. He made treaties with countries like UK for modernizing UAE. The standard of living of UAE’s citizen increased for Sheikh Zayed. He had efficiently managed political and economic condition of the country in such a way which encouraged many international companies to invest in UAE. Before his reign Abu Dhabi and Al Ain was facing strong political and social instability. Sheikh Zayed with his strong philosophy, rational thinking and love towards the country has made him successful to establish UAE is one of the developed and powerful countries of the world. Death of Sheikh Zayed Sheikh Zayed died in the year of 2004. He survived till the age of 85. He was buried in Abu Dhabi at the courtyard of new Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The death of Sheikh Zayed shocked the entire nation of UAE. On the death of this national leader every people of the country felt that they have lost their father. Thousands of people came to see the dead body of Sheikh Zayed. People were lined on the street to mourn for him. Sheikh Zayed was having severe health problems. But still his death was unexpected to the people of UAE. A solemn atmosphere prevailed in the country for his death. Many leaders and important personalities of UAE and different other nations came in the funeral of Sheikh Zayed (BBC, 2004). His funeral was held in the central mosque of Abu Dhabi. Huge number of people came in the funeral and paid their respect to the national leader. His funeral started with a prayer. For the death of this national father the country maintained 40days of mourning. All the schools and government offices of UAE was closed for eight days. Still now this great national leader is missed by the people of UAE (BBC, 2004). Monuments, buildings etc in the memory of Sheikh Zayed Sheikh Zayed is one of the most famous people in UAE. The country experienced growth and development mainly because of this national leader. To pay respect to his contribution the many building, monuments, places etc are named after him. Not only in UAE but also in many other countries of the world his name has been used indicate various places. In the memory of Sheikh Zayed, Pakistan has named one of its airports as Shaikh Zayed International Airport. A Street of Montenegro is named after him. London School of Economics used the name of this leader for naming one of his lecture theatres. Egypt named one of its cities as Sheikh Zayed City. Kukes local airport is named as Zayed Al Nahyan. In Pakistan hospital for women and children are also named after him. In central Bahrain is named as Zayed Town. Medical college is also established in Pakistan in the name of Shaikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital. In Kukwait a street was named as Sheikh Sultan Al Nahyan. Conclusion The research report provides information about Zayed Al Nahyan. He was the first Prime Minister and founder of UAE. He had played a significant role in the establishing and developing UAE. For his generous nature and activities he is known as the father of UAE. He was born and bought up in a royal family. His grandfather, father, brothers were all involved in ruling various places and regions of Arab. From his very childhood he learned many things about politics from his family members. He believed in taking non violence measures for ruling the country. In his political career he utilized his power in most effective way to improve the condition of UAE. This report describes the things he had done for providing benefits to the people. Family members of Sheikh Zayed always support him for his works. Large number of people became the follower of this leader. He had designed and planed many places of UAE. Death of this national leader not only shock UAE but also shocked many other nations of the world. References Almazroui, A., (2013). How Sheikh Zayeds childhood shaped his character as a leader. Retrieved From: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/how-sheikh-zayeds-childhood-shaped-his-character-as-a-leader BBC., (2004). UAE buries father Sheikh Zayed. Retrieved From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3977833.stm BBC., (2004). Veteran Gulf ruler Zayed dies. Retrieved From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3975737.stm > Embassy of the United Arab Emirates., (2015). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the UAE. Retrieved From: http://www.uae-embassy.org/uae/history/sheikh-zayed-bin-sultan-al-nahyan-founder-uae Hillyard, S., (2014). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. Retrieved From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1475775/Sheikh-Zayed-bin-Sultan-Al-Nahyan.html Joffe, L., (2004). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Retrieved From: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/nov/03/guardianobituaries.israel The Cabinet., (2013). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan. Retrieved From: http://uaecabinet.ae/en/members/pages/sheikh-zayed-bin-sultan-al-nahayan.aspx#.VTowZNKqqkr UAEinteract., (2015). Sheikh Zayed was embedded with wisdom, humility and humanity: William S. Cohen. Retrieved From: http://www.uaeinteract.com/german/news/default.asp?ID=312 Read More