Sheikh Hamad bin Ibrahim Al Mualla was Ruler of

Umm Al Quwain Umm Al Quwain is the capital and largest city of the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. The city is located on the peninsula of Khor Al Bidiyah, with the nearest major cities being Sharjah to the southwest and Ras Al Khaimah ...

from 1923–1929, one of the

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had s ...

which today forms part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Accession

In October 1923, a slave from Hamad bin Ibrahim's household murdered the-then Ruler of Umm Al Quwain (and Hamad's cousin), Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Mualla II. Immediately following the funeral, Hamad out-smarted Abdullah's younger brother, Ahmad bin Rashid, and occupied the government house. Hamad managed to balance the ensuing situation and made his peace with Ahmad bin Rashid as well as the families of

and, by the time the

British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...

visited in March 1924, Hamad was clearly the accepted Ruler of the emirate. Having given sanctuary to the deposed Ruler of

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, Sheikh Hamad managed to avoid a conflict with the Ruler of Sharjah,

Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (1781–1866) was the Sheikh of the Qawasim and ruler variously of the towns of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, Jazirah Al Hamra and Rams, all Trucial States in their time and now part of the United Arab Emirates. Br ...

, when Khalid bin Ahmad reached a settlement with Sultan which ceded the inland town of

Dhaid Dhaid, or Al Dhaid ( ar, ٱلذَّيْد, Adh-Dhayd), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the near ...

to him. Unable to take possession of the town because armed

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

loyal to Sultan were still there (and Hamad bin Ibrahim being unwilling to have his own forces dragged into a conflict with the Bedouin of the Interior), Khalid managed to broker an association between the Sheikhs of the

Bani Qitab The Bani Qitab ( ar, بني كتب) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The singular form of the name, Al Ketbi, is a common family name in the Northern UAE today. Consisting of a settled southern section and a nomadic northern section, t ...

and Khawatir Bedouin tribes along with the Ruler of

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...

, which would have him take and hold Dhaid 'on behalf of Khaled bin Ahmed'. To the relief of both Hamad bin Ibrahim and his Northern neighbour, the plan (which would have potentially alienated Sultan of Sharjah) was not needed: Khaled took possession of Dhaid peacefully in July 1928.

Death

Hamad was shot and killed on 9 February 1929, by a slave called Saeed from the household of Hamad's blind uncle, Abdelrahman bin Ahmed Al Mualla. He was succeeded by Ahmad bin Rashid Al Mualla following a colourful incident whereby the population of the town rose up against Abdelrahman and Saeed, who had barricaded themselves in the fort. Abandoning their initial plan of firing on the fort with a cannon, the people of the town instead elected to set a fire around the walls of the fort and in this conflagration both Abrelrahman and Saeed were killed. The British considered the whole affair to be highly suspicious and suspected Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Sharjah of involvement, but confirmed the young Ahmed as a Trucial Ruler nonetheless.

References

{{Rulers of Umm Al Quwain 1929 deaths Year of birth missing Sheikhs of Umm Al Quwain History of the United Arab Emirates 20th-century Arabs