Education and family life

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is the son of Abdul Gayoom Ibrahim (Maafaiygey Dhon Seedhi) and Khadheeja Moosa. His father had 25 children from 8 wives. He is the 11th child of his family.

He spent most of his youth in Egypt. He was part of a group of 15 students chosen at the initiative of Mohamed Amin Didi to get an education abroad. At the age of 10, in 1947, he embarked for Egypt. However, because of the troubles which led to the Arab-Israeli war of 1948–1949, his layover in Ceylon, scheduled to last several days, lasted for two and a half years during which he studied at the Buona Vista College, Galle, and Royal College, Colombo.^[12] He eventually reached Egypt in March 1950, after the end of the conflict.

He attended Al-Azhar University. He spent six months learning Arabic. He joined the Faculty and graduated in 1966. He also obtained a secondary level certificate in the English Language at the American University in Cairo.

In 1965, he met Nasreena Ibrahim, a student who had just arrived in Cairo from the Maldives for her studies. She was then 15 and he was 27. Four years later, they married in Cairo, on 14 July 1969. A few weeks after his marriage, he joined Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria as a lecturer in Islamic Studies and moved there with Nasreena.

Early career in the Maldives

When his two-year contract with Ahmadu Bello University ended, he returned to the Maldives in 1971. Three weeks later, he joined Aminiya School as a teacher of English, arithmetic and Islam. In 1972, he was appointed as the manager of the government shipping department.

On 12 March 1973, he was placed under house-arrest for criticizing President Ibrahim Nasir's policies for having no human rights. He was tried in court and sentenced to banishment for four years on 14 May 1973. On 21 May, he was taken to Makunudhoo Island of Haa Dhaalu Atoll. He was released on 13 October 1973, after serving only five months, as a result of an amnesty following Nasir's re-election for a second five-year term.

In 1974, he was appointed under-secretary in the Telecommunications Department. He was thereafter promoted to director of the department. During this period, he worked as a part-time teacher in some private schools, teaching Islam, Arabic and English.

On 28 July 1974, he was again arrested for criticizing Nasir's policies. This time he was kept in solitary confinement in a prison in Malé nicknamed the 'China Garden', as Chinese fishermen were once detained there. This prison was later demolished during Maumoon's presidency and the Islamic Centre was erected on the site. After 50 days in jail, he was set free, in September 1974.

Six weeks later, he was appointed special undersecretary in the office of Prime Minister Ahmed Zaki. The post of Prime Minister was abolished with the removal and banishment of Ahmed Zaki from office, on 6 March 1975. With this decision, his position vanished as well. However, when he returned from Colombo, he was made the Deputy Ambassador of the Maldives to Sri Lanka. In 1975, he was sent to the United Nations for two months as a member of the Maldives delegation, part of the department of External Affairs (as the Foreign Ministry was then called). After nine weeks, he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Transport. One year later, he was tenured at the United Nations from September 1976 to January 1977. On 29 March 1977, Maumoon was appointed Minister of Transport, making him a member of Nasir's cabinet. He held the post until 10 November 1978.

Coups d'état

There were three attempts to overthrow Maumoon's government during the 1980s. The first one was in 1980 and second attempt was in 1983. The third attempt, which was in 1988, succeeded in controlling the capital city and many government offices. This coup d'état in Maldives against Maumoon's rule was foiled by the Indian Armed Forces, who intervened at his request.^[17][18]

Assassination attempt

On 8 January 2008, Maumoon escaped unharmed from an assassination attempt at Hoarafushi. Mohamed Murshid, a twenty-year-old man from the island, attempted to stab him with a knife concealed in a Maldives flag. The attempt was foiled when Mohamed Jaisham Ibrahim, a sixteen-year-old Boy Scout from the island, blocked the attack with his bare hands. Jaisham sustained injuries during the intervention and was subsequently treated.^[19][20][21]

2008 elections and torture of political opponents

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom meeting with Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, in New Delhi on February 11, 2008

The October 2008 Maldivian presidential election was the first presidential election Maumoon Abdul Gayoom allowed to be contested.^[22] Standing as the DRP candidate, he lost in the election's second round, in which he received 45.75% of the vote against 54.25% for his opponents. MDP's Presidential Candidate Mohamed Nasheed accordingly succeeded Maumoon as President on November 11, 2008, with Gaumee Itthihaad's candidate Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan taking the new post of Vice President.

Maumoon's opponents and international human rights groups had accused him of employing terror tactics against dissidents, such as arbitrary arrests, detention without trial,^[23][24] employing torture, forced confessions, and politically motivated killings.^[5] Maumoon's tenure was marked by corruption as well as autocratic rule, and, for a country so small, appalling human rights abuses and instances of torture.^[25][26] Even after he left office, he had a strong influence in parliament. Maumoon was declared the "Zaeem", or Honorary Leader, of his party in 2010.^[27]

Arrest, conviction and release

Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom with his daughter Dunya Maumoon and son Ahmed Faris Maumoon in 2019

On 5 February 2018, Abdulla Yameen refused to implement a judgment of the Supreme Court relating to the release of political prisoners, including Faris, the son of Maumoon, despite the request of the UN and remarks that according to him, the Supreme Court "is not above the law", then besieged the offices of the Supreme Court, suspended the parliament, in which he had lost the majority after another decision by the Supreme Court ordering the reinstatement of deputies who had recently passed opposition, dismissed police chief, arrested Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and declared state of emergency. In the evening, he also arrested two judges of the Supreme Court, including its president Abdulla Saeed, and Ali Hameed. He justified this by a "conspiracy" and a "coup". Nasheed then called on India and the United States to intervene. Finally, the three judges of the Supreme Court who remained free decided to annul the decision. The UN then denounced an "attack on democracy".

He was sentenced to 19 months in prison on 13 June 2018 for "obstructing justice", for having refused to speak to the judges and to cooperate with the police after his arrest. In September 2018, he was placed under house arrest for health reasons. A day later, he was released on bail and acquitted on 18 October.