Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi is a
ComorianThe Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic leader and politician, and former President of Comoros. He is popularly known as '
AyatollahAyatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
'. After easily winning the
14 May 2006 presidential electionPresidential elections in the Comoros took place in two rounds on 16 April and 14 May 2006.-Background:After a period of political instability that began in the late 1990s and saw the secession of Anjouan and Mohéli, a new constitution was approved in a December 2001 referendum...
with 58.02% of the national vote, Sambi was inaugurated as President of the Union of the Comoros on 26 May 2006. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the Comoros.
Personal life
Sambi was born in
MutsamuduMutsamudu is the second largest city in the Comoros, founded in 1482. It is also the capital and largest city on the island of Anjouan as well the former home of the current Comoron Union president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi...
, on the island of
AnjouanAnjouan is an autonomous island, part of the Union of Comoros. The island is located in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Mutsamudu and its population as of 2006 is about 277,500. The total area of the island is 424 sq. kilometers Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an autonomous island,...
. He is a father of seven children including two named Intisware and Fatoumat. He owns factories which produce mattresses, bottled water and perfume - a key Comorian export. He lives above a shop called The House of Mattresses in Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan. He also set up a television station called Ulezi (education).
He is of Hadhrami ancestry, descending from the Ba 'Alawi family of
HadhramautHadhramaut, Hadhramout, Hadramawt or Ḥaḍramūt is the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate encompassing a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman...
(Yemen). Therefore, he is a descendant of
Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-SadiqAli al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, better known simply as Ali al-Uraidhi, was the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the brother of Musa al-Kadhim, Isma'il, Abdullah al-Aftah, and Muhammad Al-Dibaj. He was known by the title al-Uraidhi, because he lived in an area called Uraidh, about 4 miles from...
and hence a
SayyidSayyid is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida,...
.
"The Ayatollah of Comoros"
He was educated in
Islamic studiesIn a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
in
SudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
,
Saudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and
QomQom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
,
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. According to the Tehran-based Tabnak news agency, while Sambi was there he studied under Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. Despite his Sunni background, Sambi's time in Iran and his penchant for
turbanIn English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
s earned him the nickname "The Ayatollah of Comoros".
Political career
Running as an
independentIn politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidate in the 16 April 2006 presidential primary election on the island of
AnjouanAnjouan is an autonomous island, part of the Union of Comoros. The island is located in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Mutsamudu and its population as of 2006 is about 277,500. The total area of the island is 424 sq. kilometers Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an autonomous island,...
, Sambi placed first out of thirteen candidates, winning 23.70% of the vote.
In the 14 May
electionPresidential elections in the Comoros took place in two rounds on 16 April and 14 May 2006.-Background:After a period of political instability that began in the late 1990s and saw the secession of Anjouan and Mohéli, a new constitution was approved in a December 2001 referendum...
, Sambi was declared the victor on 15 May by Secretary of State for elections Ali Abdallah over retired
French air forceThe French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...
officer
Mohamed DjaanfariMohamed Djaanfari is a politician in The Comoros. He is a retired French air force officer, local transportation tycoon and Vice-President of the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros. He contested the 2006 presidential elections and ended up losing badly to Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi...
and long-time politician
Ibrahim HalidiIbrahim Halidi is a long-time politician in Comoros. Halidi was the Prime Minister of Comoros from January to May 1993. Halidi also ran for president in May 2006 with the backing of the outgoing president, Azali Assoumani. In the first round of the election, Halidi finished in third place with...
, whose candidacy was backed by
Azali AssoumaniAzali Assoumani was a president of the Comoros. He became leader of the country on 30 April 1999 after leading a coup to depose acting president Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde, who he saw as pandering to the independence movement on Anjouan...
, the outgoing president.
Political views
Sambi has been quoted as saying that Comoros is not ready to become an
Islamic stateAn Islamic state is a type of government, in which the primary basis for government is Islamic religious law...
, nor will anyone be forced to wear a
veilThe word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
under his presidency. He is also the first president from the island of Anjouan. He also promised to fight
corruptionPolitical corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, create
jobsEmployment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
and build better houses for the majority of Comorians living in
povertyPoverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
.
See also
- Politics of the Comoros
- Tokyo International Conference on African Development
is a conference held every five years in Tokyo, Japan, with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa...
(TICAD-IV), 2008.
- Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq
Ali al-Uraidhi ibn Ja'far al-Sadiq, better known simply as Ali al-Uraidhi, was the son of Ja'far al-Sadiq and the brother of Musa al-Kadhim, Isma'il, Abdullah al-Aftah, and Muhammad Al-Dibaj. He was known by the title al-Uraidhi, because he lived in an area called Uraidh, about 4 miles from...
External links