Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed (born 28 March 1977) is a Maldivian politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Islamic Affairs since 17 November 2023.

Early life and education

Shaheem attained his Bachelor of Islamic Sharia from the

Islamic University of Madinah The Islamic University of Madinah () is a public Islamic university in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Established by King Saud bin Abdulaziz in 1961, Sayy’id Abul Ala Maududi had played a significant role of establishing and running of Islamic Univers ...

and his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

International Islamic University Malaysia The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is a public university in Malaysia. Headquartered in Gombak, Selangor, IIUM has six other campuses all over Malaysia: two medical-centric campuses and a Centre for Foundation Studies in Gam ...

Career

Shaheem was one of the senior founding members of the

Adhaalath Party The Adhaalath Party (; , AP) is a political party in the Maldives. History The AP was registered as a political party in August 2005, when political parties were allowed to operate for the first time following widespread protests for democracy. ...

(AP). He was the Minister of Islamic Affairs from 19 February 2012 until his resignation on 05 May 2015 under President

Mohamed Waheed Hassan Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (; born 3 January 1953) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 7 February 2012 to 17 November 2013, having succeeded to the office following the resignation of President Mohamed Nashe ...

and

Abdulla Yameen Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom (; born 21 May 1959) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 2013 to 2018. Yameen was elected president in the 2013 presidential election as the candidate of the Progressive Party (P ...

. Shaheem later left AP in 2015 during the party's exit from the ruling coalition at the time and was the reason why he resigned as Islamic Minister. He was also the unsuccessful

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

of President

in the

2018 Maldivian presidential election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number) * One of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short story ''God's Dice'' * ''Eighteen'' (film), a 2 ...

. He was then appointed

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of Islamic University of Maldives. In 2020, he became a political advisor to the opposition

Progressive Party of Maldives The Progressive Party of Maldives (, PPM), was a political party in the Maldives. The stated goal of the party was driving Maldives towards an independent and democratic, safe and secure, high income, high human capital, developed nation state w ...

. He was later appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mohamed Muizzu Mohamed Muizzu (born 15 June 1978) is a Maldivian politician and engineer who has been serving as the 8th president of the Maldives and leader of the People's National Congress (Maldives), People's National Congress since 2023. He previously ...

as the Minister of Islamic Affairs, but when the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

decided to vote to approve of Shaheem, majority of the MPs voted no and President Muizzu reappointed him. In 2025, Shaheem later rejoined the AP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaheem, Mohamed Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Progressive Party of Maldives politicians 21st-century Maldivian politicians Government ministers of the Maldives Islamic University of Madinah alumni International Islamic University Malaysia alumni Cabinet of Mohamed Muizzu Candidates for Vice President of the Maldives Adhaalath Party politicians