Sharif Ahmed
| Sharif Sheikh Ahmed شريف شيخ احمد |
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| 7th President of Somalia | |
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In office 31 January 2009 – 20 August 2012 |
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| Prime Minister |
Nur Hassan Hussein Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke Abdiwahid Elmi Gonjeh (Acting) Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Abdiweli Mohamed Ali |
| Preceded by | Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed |
| Succeeded by | Hassan Sheikh Mohamud |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 July 1966 Mahaday, Middle Shebelle, Somalia |
| Political party | Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia |
| Alma mater | University of Kordofan |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Somali: Shariif Sheekh Axmed, Arabic: شريف شيخ أحمد; born 25 July 1966) is a Somali politician. Between 2009–2012, he was the President of Somalia. He also previously served as the Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), the group of Sharia Courts that opposed the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). He speaks Arabic, Somali, Italian and English.
Sharif Ahmed was born in Mahaday a town in southern Middle Shabelle region of Somalia. He is a member of the Abgaal clan.
Sharif began his education at the Sheikh Sufi Institute, which was associated with Al-Azhar University in Egypt. He then went to Sudan and entered University of Kordofan in late 1992, where he pursued a bachelor's degree in the Arabic language (major) and geography (minor) in the city of Aldalanj. In 1994, the university was renamed to the Dalanj University, and Sheikh Sharif left for Tripoli, the capital of Libya, after having completed only two out of the required four years. In Libya, he entered the Open University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Law and Islamic Shariah, graduating in 1998. He worked as a secondary school teacher of geography, Arabic, and religious studies.
A hafiz, Ahmed had memorized the Qur'an as a child and spoke only standard Arabic, shunning slang and local dialects. Thus, his religious upbringing and education allowed him to succeed his father as the spiritual leader of the Idriseeyah sect of Sufi Islam in Somalia.
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