Ali bin Abdullah Al-Thani

Sheikh Sir Hafiz Ali bin Abdullah Al-Thani, KBE (1895-31 August 1974) was the Emir of Qatar from 20 August 1948 when his father Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al-Thani steped down until 24 October 1960 when he abdicated in favour of his son Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al-Thani.

In his reign he oversaw the first shipment of oil from the port city in Mesaieed on 31 December 1949 ; his period saw emphasis on education and infrastructure. Ronald Cochrane was made responsible for organizing the police force in Qatar.After his abdication he lived a few years in Qatar during which he was very sociable in befriending many Muslim scholars and printing many historical Islamic books that were never printed before; these were printed in the Almaktab Alislami in Lebanon . He became diabetic in his later years and lived his final years in his home in Lebanon where he was taken care of by Dr. Nasib Albarbir.

He was extremely generous and very well mannered; as he had learned the Quran off by heart at a very young age he had an extremely strong memory.

He died in the Barbir Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon on the 31 August 1974 and his body was flown back to Qatar where he was buried in Alrayyan Cemetery.

Reference

*http://www.diwan.gov.qa/english/qatar/AliBinAbdullah.htm