Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi

Sultan celebrated the 50th anniversary of his accession to the throne on 25 January 2022. He is the longest reigning Arab ruler, beating Qaboos bin Said's record of 49 and a half years,.

With reports of increasing drug abuse problems in the emirate, in May 2018 the emir announced the directive to establish the "Irada" drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation centre in Sharjah.

In addition to those offices, he holds several educational posts. He became president of both the American University of Sharjah and the University of Sharjah in 1997 and was named a visiting professor at Exeter University, his alma mater, in 1998. He became a professor of modern history of the Gulf at the University of Sharjah in 1999. In 2008 he also became a visiting professor at Cairo University.

He has ruled Sharjah continuously since January 1972, apart from a six-day period in June 1987, during an attempted coup led by his elder brother Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi.

Sultan succeeded his brother, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, as emir after his assassination on 25 January 1972. He was previously the minister of education for the Emirates.

In 1948, at the age of nine years, he enrolled in Eslah As Qasimia School. After completing his elementary and secondary education between Sharjah, Kuwait City and Dubai, Al-Qasimi went on to study a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering at Cairo University, graduating in 1971. He completed a PhD in history at Exeter University in 1985, and another in the political geography of the Gulf at Durham University in 1999.

Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi (Arabic: سلطان بن محمد القاسمي; born 2 July 1939) is the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and a member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates.

Sultan's mother was Maryam bint Sheikh Ghanem Al Shamsi (1915–2010). He has four brothers and two sisters: Khalid, Sheikh Saqr, Abdul Aziz, Abdullah, Sheikha and Naema.