The House of Thani (Arabic: آل ثاني, romanized: Āl Thānī) is the ruling family of Qatar, with origins tracing back to the Adnanite Banu Tamim tribe. Currently, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his mother Moza bint Nasser lead the house.
Officially, the House of Thani rules Qatar as a constitutional monarchy, but the wide powers retained by the emir and his family have it bordering an absolute monarchy and autocracy.
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (Arabic: حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of Qatar's royal family, the House of Thani. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 until 2013 when he abdicated the throne, handing power to his fourth son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who was born to his second spouse, Moza bint Nassir. The Qatari government refers to him as the Father Emir.
As emir of Qatar, Hamad ruled the country as an absolute monarch, with supreme authority over all branches of state power, and no political parties were allowed.
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. The capital is Doha, home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants. Most of the land area is made up of flat, low-lying desert.
Qatar has been ruled as a hereditary monarchy by the House of Thani since Mohammed bin Thani signed an agreement with Britain in 1868 that recognised its separate status. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in 1916 and gained independence in 1971. The current emir is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who, like previous emirs, holds nearly all executive, legislative, and judicial authority in an autocratic manner under the Constitution of Qatar. He appoints the prime minister and cabinet. The Consultative Assembly (also known as the "Shura Council") can block legislation and has a limited ability to dismiss ministers, but is fully appointed by the emir. While Qatar held a partial Shura Council election in 2021, with two thirds of seats elected, in 2024 it moved to abolish those elections altogether, and reverted to a fully appointed Assembly.
Mohammed bin Thani (Arabic: محمد بن ثاني; c. 1788 – 18 December 1878), also known as Mohammed bin Thani bin Mohammed Al Thamir (Arabic: محمد بن ثاني بن محمد آل ثامر), was the first ruler from the House of Thani to rule the whole Qatari Peninsula, officially being recognized by the British in September 1868 following a meeting with British representative Lewis Pelly. He is known for being the father of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the founder of Qatar and who fended off the Ottoman army in the late 19th century.
The Emir of the State of Qatar (Arabic: أمير دولة قطر) is the monarch and head of state of Qatar. The emir is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and guarantor of the constitution. The emir holds the most powerful position in the country, controlling all branches of state power, and has a prominent role in foreign relations.
The emirs are members of the House of Thani (Al Thani), whose origins are in the Banu Tamim, one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. The current ruler is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who succeeded on 25 June 2013.
The 1995 Qatari coup d'état was a bloodless palace coup that took place in Qatar on 27 June 1995. The coup was carried out by Crown Prince Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani who, with the support of the ruling Al Thani family, took control of the country while his father, Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, was on a visit to Geneva, Switzerland. The coup came after a falling-out between Hamad bin Khalifa and his father who, in early 1995, had tried regaining some of the authority he bestowed upon Hamad in 1992.