General Questions About The Ruling Family Of Dubai

[mariquilla]

I heard a wedding will take place in sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid on 25 march. Does anyone know who are bride and groom?

 

[lady blue]

There is no sister of Shaikh Mohammed who married to a Saudi prince.

Yes there is, her name is shiekha Shiekha bint Rashid one of shiekh Mohammed younger sisters, they have three boys together prince Rashid , prince Saud and Prince Mohammed .
He is however not a grand son or a direct descendent to king AbdulAziz but he is from Al-Saud family.

 

[royalover]

princely title

I have a question, are the grand children of HH Sheikh Sultan of Sharjah, considered princes, and do they get the HH or HE title? I know in some emirates the grand children don't get the princely title

 

[Imanmajed]

I have a question, are the grand children of HH Sheikh Sultan of Sharjah, considered princes, and do they get the HH or HE title? I know in some emirates the grand children don't get the princely title

In UAE we do not have princes or princesses....All members of ruling families considered Sheikh (male) or Sheikha (female). They can also be addressed with HH suffix which is most often used for a Sheikh/Sheikha who has public or special duties. The HE title can also get someone who is not a member of a ruling family but a senior official, like a high government person or an ambassador of UAE. The only exception: Princess Haya (wife of Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum) retained her title as a princess because her title is higher (royal) than that of a Sheikha (non-royal).

 

[Reuniontrio]

Hi all,

Now and again, I hear about tribal elders who were/are influential in decision making for UAE rulers and their families, even selecting who the rulers will be. Some questions:
Who are these tribal elders for the Maktoum family? Are they all male?

Secondly, if they do continue to have influence, what sorts of things do they decide? Do they have the ability to make decisions about marriage, divorce, travel and educational opportunities, or career choices? Do they impact the opportunities that can be taken by women in the family? Do they decide who will be visible to the public or not?

 

[Imanmajed]

Hi all,

Now and again, I hear about tribal elders who were/are influential in decision making for UAE rulers and their families, even selecting who the rulers will be. Some questions: Who are these tribal elders for the Maktoum family?

It has long been regional tradition for rulers to hold open discussions with their people, be they common, merchants or the elite. Often, this forum is held by the emirate rulers as well as senior family members. This open majlis, or consultation, is held periodically; however, a ruler may also appoint another Shaikh or wali, to whom concerns may be directed by the general population when necessary. This individual is often considered a leading tribal figure whose trust is placed by his tribe as well as the ruler. Decisions made by rulers on the basis of consensual consultation with the elders and ruling members of the leading families and respected (senior) representatives of the tribes.This is an old tribal principle of what is now complemented by the addition of modern government standards, like Federal Supreme Council which is the highest legislative and executive body in the country formed by all rulers of the seven Emirates. The UAE also have a half-elected Federal National Council which consists of 40 members drawn from all the emirates. Half are appointed by the rulers of the constituent emirates, and the other half are indirectly elected to serve two-year terms. The FNC is restricted to a largely consultative role.

Secondly, if they do continue to have influence, what sorts of things do they decide? Do they have the ability to make decisions about marriage, divorce, travel and educational opportunities, or career choices? Do they impact the opportunities that can be taken by women in the family? Do they decide who will be visible to the public or not?

Decisions that affect the privacy of members of a (ruling) family (marriage, divorce, travel, education and so on) are made only within the family. For private decisions the opinion of the elders of the family is respected and valued. The female members of the (ruling) families decide independently to what extent they want to be visible in public. The deciding factors are often personal preference and own attitude to traditional values.

 

[Orlan Maca]

Does anyone here knew the Ruling Family of Dubai in person? Perhaps a friend of them or associates. I have some questions.

 

[Miarain]

You said the groom is Hamdan right? So he's not married or engaged!

 

[Ridah]

You said the groom is Hamdan right? So he's not married or engaged!

No, he is Officially single. and i guess she said "the marriage will take place in sheikh hamdan bin rashed..." not with Hamdan or of Hamdan. So there might be a banquet of this name. And the crown prince of dubai is Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohommad, Sheikh Hamdan bin rashed is some other person.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

Salam/Hello everyone, I wanted to know why some people including friends and acquaintances of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed call him BU RASHID since we are told he is not married and as a result has no son named Rashid? May be I am thinking the wrong way, so will any enlightened person answer my query. (Of what I know is when you have a son, people tend to call you BU Rashid, Ahmed or whatever the name of the son is) Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks much! ��

 

[Ridah]

Salam/Hello everyone, I wanted to know why some people including friends and acquaintances of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed call him BU RASHID since we are told he is not married and as a result has no son named Rashid? May be I am thinking the wrong way, so will any enlightened person answer my query. (Of what I know is when you have a son, people tend to call you BU Rashid, Ahmed or whatever the name of the son is) Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks much! ?

Walequm Assalam. If his friends call him BU RASHID, then maybe they're just trying to tease him with the name of his future son that he had thought of.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

No Rida, I don't think it is about teasing because if you see his Instagram account, there's a recent video in which even his Uncle calls him that. Plus not only this, the people I am talking about are his friends that hunt out with him. Also worth noticing is some local people from Dubai also mention him in their comment by the name of BU RASHID.

 

[Ridah]

No Rida, I don't think it is about teasing because if you see his Instagram account, there's a recent video in which even his Uncle calls him that. Plus not only this, the people I am talking about are his friends that hunt out with him. Also worth noticing is some local people from Dubai also mention him in their comment by the name of BU RASHID.

then i guess he has a secret wife and a son of this name.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

LOL This is what intrigued me seriously. Something is really fishy

 

[Ridah]

You're an Emirati, you might throw some light to this secret son's matter like apart from the video on instagram, where did you got to know about this name.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

I explored some profiles and saw some of his friends calling this name. And some local Emiratis do comment as well. And btw I am not an Emirati

 

[Ridah]

I explored some profiles and saw some of his friends calling this name. And some local Emiratis do comment as well. And btw I am not an Emirati

I don't understand why people keep some of their wifes secretly >_< IMO its absolutely fine with having 2-3 wifes but why give just one wife the position of being an official wife, why not treating them equally.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

Because they are not official wives. An official wife ought to be a girl from family or at least an Emirati girl from a well rounded financial and social background. I think this rule mainly goes for a Sheikh who will rule the emirate. Anyways the logic however is unknown to me as well

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

I don't understand why people keep some of their wifes secretly >_< IMO its absolutely fine with having 2-3 wifes but why give just one wife the position of being an official wife, why not treating them equally.

And Ridah they do treat the wives on an equal scale just as Shariah suggests however there's only a difference of public recognition as in secret wives are not acknowledged or named publicly though people on the large are aware of such marriages. And I think the secret wives are not even a part of the family functions or involved in family meet-ups, etc. The only exceptional woman who is by and large an accepted and recognized wife of a prominent Sheikh is Natasha Aliyeva, wife of Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum. She was actually a waitress when the man proposed her and married her and the public recognition that she got from her husband and in-laws is an exception. She is a lucky women I must say. But on the other hand, I also believe that women who agree to become secret wives are already aware of what their official status would be since otherwise they could easily retaliate which they don't. So all in all if it is okay for those women why blame the Sheikh, they at least fulfill all their marital, economic and other rights unlike a lot of men around the world who opt for cheating women, extra marital affairs, visiting prostitutes, etc, all of which are socially, morally and religiously unacceptable.

 

[Ridah]

I do get your point but what i'm saying is that a girl should atleast be given the position of being someone's wife. Like i would seriously mind if my future husband refuses to be married to me (just like Hamdan is addressed as Single). Don't take me to the parties or officially announce my name in public but atleast don't address yourself as a single. I hope you get my point.

 

[Imanmajed]

Salam/Hello everyone, I wanted to know why some people including friends and acquaintances of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed call him BU RASHID since we are told he is not married and as a result has no son named Rashid? May be I am thinking the wrong way, so will any enlightened person answer my query.

.... If his friends call him BU RASHID, then maybe they're just trying to tease him.....

Bu Rashid = descendant of Rashid! Rashid was the name of his grandfather.

 

[Imanmajed]

I don't understand why people keep some of their wifes secretly >_< IMO its absolutely fine with having 2-3 wifes but why give just one wife the position of being an official wife, why not treating them equally.

It's a cultural thing. Family means everything for Emirati.The private life is of particular importance, especially the part which refers to the women of the family. They are not an object that you publicly shows around like a trophy. All wives are official (legal married). There is no hierarchy if someone has more than one wife.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

I do get your point but what i'm saying is that a girl should atleast be given the position of being someone's wife. Like i would seriously mind if my future husband refuses to be married to me (just like Hamdan is addressed as Single). Don't take me to the parties or officially announce my name in public but atleast don't address yourself as a single. I hope you get my point.

See I certainly understand how appalled you feel about this whole deal. Firstly look at Sheikh Mohammed for example, although in terms of order Sheikha Hind is his third wife, she is still considered first as well as the official wife. Reason? What I believe is the women of the family have a better status because they are royal firstly, secondly their culture promotes cousin marriage pretty much which is good to strengthen relationships and most importantly the blood remains blue and loyal of the babies born. An outsider woman becoming a part of the family herself needs so much to learn about adapting herself, language, norms and the much much more about the family being the head wife. But then again this is what I think the reason is and seriously all the woman who become secret wives are pretty fine with their husbands not so willing to acknowledge them officially, fir example Sheikh Mohammed's only wives who are officially regarded wives are Sheikha Hind and Princess Haya and both are royal in their own capacity. All his other wives are never mentioned by him. I think they also believe in drawing fine line between their royal women and the commoner wives, after all royal wives need that royal status and might not want to see themselves on the same scale as that of commoner wife who might actually be a belly dancer or an ordinary kindergarten teacher or an air-hostess, etc. And about that Sheikh Hamdan issue being called BU RASHID and still calling himself single, I cannot still says he is married secretly unless someone comes forward about it with proof. I am yet to receive comments from other members here who are much more qualified regarding such topics. I am myself very confused about it.

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

It's a cultural thing. Family means everything for Emirati.The private life is of particular importance, especially the part which refers to the women of the family. They are are not an object that you publicly shows around like a trophy. All wives are official (legal married). There is no hierarchy if someone has more than one wife.

Thanks Iman for clearing up our doubts. You explain beautifully!

 

[Ridah]

It's a cultural thing. Family means everything for Emirati.The private life is of particular importance, especially the part which refers to the women of the family. They are not an object that you publicly shows around like a trophy. All wives are official (legal married). There is no hierarchy if someone has more than one wife.

Being a muslim and a hijabi, i myself don't prefer people presenting their wifes in public as a trophy or a show peice. But, Say for example Zoe was married to Sheikh Mohammad long time back but only recently people got to know about her. I don't prefer showing muslim girls pictures in public but atleast including their names on the wikipedia page or the official website is the least you expect.

 

[Ridah]

Bu Rashid = descendant of Rashid! His grandfather`s name was Rashid.

Okay so there's no secret wife Thanks Iman.

 

[Imanmajed]

What I believe is the women of the family have a better status because they are royal firstly,

We have no ROYAL families in UAE! But we have RULING families, who look back on a long and successful tradition to govern tribes, and also a state since 1971. They are the great leaders of UAE! We owe them and their wise decisions the development of our country.

A Shaikh is a dominant, paramount member of a tribe. Rather you can compare the rank of a Shaikh with an Indian chief as with a prince charming from 1001 nights. In the past you can not be a Shaikh by birth, but by power, wisdom and acceptance. And thats what is the meaning of SHAIKH - old, wise man. The inheritance of the title changed a little bit in the last 150 years. But the meaning remains the same and can not be equated with a royal provenance.

There is also a religious version of the title Shaikh, but I´m sure you did not meant here.

 

[Imanmajed]

Okay so there's no secret wife Thanks Iman.

Right, no secret wife! I´m sorry to disappoint you!

 

[Fatima.Qureshi]

We have no ROYAL families in UAE! But we have RULING families, who look back on a long and successful tradition to govern tribes, and also a state since 1971. They are the great leaders of UAE! We owe the development of our country and our future because of their wise decisions.

Rather you can compare the rank of Shaikh with an Indian chief as with a prince charming from 1001 nights. In the past you can not be a Shaikh by birth, but by power, wisdom and acceptance. And thats what is the meaning of SHAIKH - old, wise man. It changed a little bit in the last 150 years. But the meaning remains the same and can not be equated with a royal provenance.

Ok fine, I got you and what you mean to say. But them again I would say that mostly the ruling members use titles such as HRH for both male and female members. This thing and secondly media quotes them as Gulf royalties which gives an impression to the world that these are royal families. Besides what you say seems legible too!

 

[Imanmajed]

But, Say for example Zoe was married to Sheikh Mohammad long time back but only recently people got to know about her. I don't prefer showing muslim girls pictures in public but atleast including their names on the wikipedia page or the official website is the least you expect.

It is not part of our culture to do so. It remains to be seen whether this will change over the years with the younger generation.

Ok fine, I got you and what you mean to say. But them again I would say that mostly the ruling members use titles such as HRH for both male and female members. This thing and secondly media quotes them as Gulf royalties which gives an impression to the world that these are royal families. Besides what you say seems legible too!

HRH = His/Her Royal Highness - In UAE this is right only in the case of Princess Haya because her father was the late king Hussein of Jordan.

No one of the UAE Shaikhs/Shaikhas is called HRH but titled HH which means His/Her Highness. Also this additional term (HH) is only used for high-level or ruling Shaikhs and Shaikhas. Sometimes media ignore all of that because of a lack of knowledge they seem to have.