The Oriental beauty who actually rules Qatar: Sheikha Moza

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Misned is the most fashionable and influential woman in the Arab world. Without hijab and burqa. For the Arab world, her style is audacity. The former emir of Qatar allowed his second wife not only to remove the burqa, but also to interfere in state affairs.

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Source: LiveJournal/enter-the-ninja

Sheikha Moza bint Nasser al-Misned is the second of three wives of the third Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al—Thani, a mother of seven children, one of the most stylish first ladies of the planet and, no matter how amazing it may sound, a political and public figure.

The story of her life is quite in the spirit of oriental fairy tales, and if someone decided to make a series based on Moza's biography, something in the spirit of the "Magnificent Century" would turn out. Only instead of Sultan Suleiman — the Crown Prince of Qatar, and instead of Hurrem — Moza, the daughter of a prominent Qatari businessman.

At the age of 18, Mose had a "lucky ticket" — she met the future crown Prince, but she was in no hurry to marry him. First she entered the University of Qatar at the Faculty of Psychology, then she interned at prestigious American universities. And then she got married.

The first years of family life, the woman, who is now called nothing less than the gray cardinal of the Persian Gulf, gave to her children. And Qatar at that time was not such an influential state in the Arab world as it is today.

The situation changed in 1995. Then Moza's husband made a bloodless coup and seized power in the country, overthrowing his own father. The coup was supported by the Anglo-Saxon world, Qatar was talked about in connection with its oil and gas complex, the new emir introduced his second wife to the world — a beautiful and educated Moza.

Sheikha Moza began to supervise humanitarian and charity programs and increasingly appear in public in stunning outfits from the leading fashion houses of the world.

In the progressive images of Moza, as experts note, there is no hint of the true "fashion situation" in Qatar, where women wear abayas (black dresses to the floor), scarves or niqabs (black hats covering the whole face, with a narrow slit for the eyes) — in general, as everywhere in the Arab countries. Moza wears only a turban, and in his spare time he can walk in his pants.

Moza is also criticized in connection with Qatar's aggressive economic policy — a small country in the Persian Gulf is accused of dumping gas prices and trying to capture the maximum segment of the gas market worldwide. In addition, Qatar sponsors radical groups around the world, which, of course, does not really fit with the refined image of the sheikha.

Sheikha Moza, which is rare for the wives of rulers of other Gulf countries, has a number of state and international positions, including honorary ones: she is the head of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Social Development, President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, Vice-President of the Supreme Council for Education, UNESCO Special Envoy. Moza created the Arab Democratic Foundation, to which her husband made a first contribution of $ 10 million. The main task of the foundation is to promote the development of free media and civil society.

Sheikha Moza is also the initiator of the creation of the Qatar Science and Technology Park, which was opened at the end of 2008. The park has attracted 225 million investments, including from leading global companies such as Microsoft, Shell and General Electric.

Moza has built an "Educational City" in the suburbs of Doha, the capital of Qatar, — a university campus where leading professors of American universities give lectures to students.

Sheikha Moza herself holds honorary doctorates from Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas A&M University, Carnegie Mellon University, Imperial College London and Georgetown University. Since 2010, she has been a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Mose is 54 years old. It looks amazing. Someone estimated that she spent about $2 million on 12 plastic surgeries. Those who have had to deal with the Sheikha Foundation admire her ability to work and determination, noting her perseverance, authority and — imagine! — feminism.

Moza accompanied her sheikh on all official trips requiring the presence of the First Lady.

It was one of Moza's five sons Tamim who became the heir of Sheikh Hamad, Moza's spouse. And this is a very important touch to her portrait, because Hamad has two more wives besides Moza, and the total number of his heirs is 27 people. But it was Tamim who became the fourth ruler of Qatar last June, deposing his father. More precisely, the father himself, without coups and unrest, handed over the reins of government of the country into the hands of Moza's son.

After that, there are legends in Qatar about the influence that Moza has on her spouse and, accordingly, on state affairs.

And not only in Qatar. Moza was included in the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world according to Forbes magazine. They even say that Sheikh Hamad married for the third time not out of passion, love or profit, but in spite of Mose, to show that her power is not unlimited. But still, no other woman could take the place of Moza, who became an expert in diplomatic protocol and international etiquette and, apparently, found the key to the heart and mind of the sheikh, during whose reign little Qatar began to flourish.

Sheikha says: "Seeing with your own eyes how these children live is not the same as hearing or reading about them. These children are forced to fight for the simplest human rights, for example, to study and live in normal conditions. I assumed that schools might lack teachers or equipment. But these classrooms, they can't even be called such! No matter what we say and do, it won't be enough, but I want to create at least one school that will become a model, a standard. Children deserve it!"