His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, has paid an emotional tribute to his father, His Highness the late Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, in a message published on X. Accompanied by childhood photographs with the Father Amir, the message reflects on his leadership, wisdom, humility and compassion, as well as the values he instilled in his family and the people of Qatar. HE Sheikh Joaan also pledged to preserve his father’s legacy and continue serving the country under the leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. HE Sheikh Joaan’s message is reproduced below exactly as supplied: In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful With even greater contentment and submission to the will of Almighty Allah, we bid farewell to the father, the supreme role model, and the guiding light, my lord, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani—may Allah have mercy on him. We have bid farewell to a man who, in his journey, embodied the pride of a nation and the renaissance of a state, and a people who never left his imagination and mind for a single day, making the name of the homeland a banner of glory and leadership in every forum. I was privileged to grow up in his school and seek shelter in his shade, so he was not merely a leader who steered the helm of governance with wisdom and capability; rather, he was a model of selfless giving and tender fatherhood that extended to his people before his own children. And the most precious thing I possess, the greatest achievement I take pride in in my life, is that I lived with him and breathed from the abundance of his wisdom—and how pride and gratitude overwhelm me today that my children and grandchildren, who were blessed to live with him and draw near to him in the final years of his life, have followed in the footsteps of this great school, and that he was their guide and teacher, drawing from his steadfast values and principles that will remain engraved in their souls. His journey began with prolonged struggle and striving, through which he overcame hardships to forge a noble reality for our country, never once turning toward the impossible but transforming distant dreams—through his sincere resolve and strength of will—into the reality we live today. And even in the days when he was ruler, under the weight of his immense responsibilities toward an entire nation, that did not distract him from his home and family; he would carve out time from his schedule to envelop us in his profound compassion and gentleness, and in his majesty and greatness, he was a profoundly simple man who captured hearts with his closeness and immense humility. In his gatherings, we learned that leadership is a responsibility and a trust, and that the dignity of nations is built through sincerity and sacrifice and preserved through steadfastness in principles. His upbringing of us was not devoid of fatherly firmness at our missteps, to set us on the right path, teach us what is right, and mold us into men capable of facing life and bearing the trust. Today, I feel profound gratitude for having been his student and servant, and for being fortunate in this world to have grown up as his son in his small family and as his son also in his greater family as a Qatari citizen who lived under his historic leadership. And as a Qatari citizen before being a son, I extend condolences and solace to every home in this land, for—may Allah have mercy on him—he was a true father to every "Qatari soul" and to all who live on its soil; he knew them truly, knew their families and fathers, and remembered them with appreciation for their noble deeds. His approach was "Qatar first, above all," which was his creed and principle that he lived and died by; as he once said with his own tongue: "It is the first thing upon which the eye fell, and the first to which the imagination clung." Thus, today our sorrows as a family merge and dissolve into the calamity of an entire nation weeping for its father and leader. And though the body has departed, he lives on within us—he has not died, enduring through his legacy, his principles, and his fragrant path that absence cannot fold away. And though this shocking departure leaves in our souls a vast void that words cannot fill, our sincere pledge to him is to continue on his path and safeguard this great legacy he left as a trust upon our necks. And the State of Qatar continues today with steady steps and resolute determination under the wise leadership of my lord, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the dear country—may Allah protect him—who carries forward the trust with the same righteous approach, so that our banner remains forever high and proud. I ask Almighty Allah to envelop the great departed one of the homeland and builder of its renaissance in His vast mercy and forgiveness, to admit him into the highest abode among the prophets and the truthful, and to reward him on behalf of Qatar and the Arab and Islamic nations with the best of what He rewards His sincere servants. The righteous depart, but their deeds remain alive, and we pledge to you, O inspirer of the homeland, that we shall remain faithful to the covenant of loyalty, completing the journey so that our country endures forever as you willed it... first, and above all.(Indeed, to Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return.)
