Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan محمد بن زايد آل نهيان
Mohammed bin Zayed in 2021
Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Reign	13 May 2022 – present
Predecessor	Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Heir apparent	Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan
3rd President of the United Arab Emirates
Tenure	14 May 2022 – present
Predecessor	Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Prime Minister	Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Vice President	Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Born	(1961-03-11) 11 March 1961 (age 63) Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Trucial States
Spouse	Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan ​ (m. 1981)​
Issue	Sheikha Mariam Sheikh Khaled Sheikha Shamsa Sheikh Theyab Sheikh Hamdan Sheikha Fatima Sheikha Shamma Sheikh Zayed Sheikha Hassa Amina (adopted) Salha (adopted)
Full name Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa bin Shakhbout bin Theyab bin Issa bin Nahyan bin Falah bin Yas Arabic: محمد بن زايد بن سلطان بن زايد بن خليفة بن شخبوط بن ذياب بن عيسى بن نهيان بن فلاح بن ياس
House	Al Nahyan
Education	Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Father	Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Mother	Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi
Military career
Allegiance	United Arab Emirates
Service/branch	United Arab Emirates Air Force
Years of service	1979–present
Rank	General
Commands held	Commander-in-Chief Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Arabic: محمد بن زايد آل نهيان, romanized: Muḥammad bin Zāyid Āl Nahyān; born 11 March 1961), popularly known by his initials as MBZ or MbZ, is an Emirati royal and politician who currently serves as the third president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Abu Dhabi.

MBZ completed his education in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Al Ain, and graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in April 1979. He later joined the UAE Military, and held various posts before becoming a pilot in the UAE Air Force; he was promoted to general in 2005.

Sheikh Mohamed is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the first president of the UAE and the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi. MBZ became the crown prince of Abu Dhabi in 2004, following the death of his father and his brother, Sheikh Khalifa becoming the president of the UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi. In 2014, Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke; then MBZ became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE. MBZ officially became president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi following the death of his brother on 13 May 2022. On 29 March 2023, MBZ appointed his son Sheikh Khalid as crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

Academics have characterized the UAE under MBZ as an authoritarian or authoritarian capitalist country. Since becoming de facto president, the UAE went through a period of economic liberalization, including the introduction of VAT, corporate taxes and bankruptcy laws; the elimination of gas subsidies, the removal of curbs of foreign ownership of businesses and the decriminalization of bounced cheques. The UAE also went through some social liberalization, including the de jure removal of corporal punishment and Sharia law outside of blood money claims and personal status matters of Muslims; the decriminalization of co-habitation, extra-marital relationships and alcohol consumption by Muslims; a legal process of children born outside of wedlock; and civil courts for personal status matters of non-Muslims.

MBZ is known to oppose Islamism, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and Iranian-backed groups. Since becoming de facto president, the UAE participated in the war against ISIS and was officially part of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen until the UAE withdrew their troops in 2019. The UAE disagreed with Saudi Arabia's approach in the war for its support of Al-Islah, a party the UAE considers close to the Muslim Brotherhood; but maintains its support of the Southern Transitional Council. MBZ fell out with the Obama administration on the Iran nuclear deal and supported the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The UAE was a party in the 2017 - 2021 Qatar diplomatic crisis, based on claims that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood. MBZ maintained a close relationship with former US President Donald Trump, with reports that MBZ convinced Trump to take a hard-stance on Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood. In September 2020, the UAE signed the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize diplomatic relationship with Israel brokered by Trump. The UAE has more recently been involved in an economic rivalry with Saudi Arabia, and opposed Saudi efforts for OPEC+ production cuts.

In 2019, The New York Times named him as the most powerful Arab ruler, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2019 by Time magazine. In 2023, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre ranked MBZ as the eighth-most influential Muslim.

Family and early life

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed was born in Al Ain on 11 March 1961, in what was then the Trucial States.

He is the third son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his third wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi.

Mohamed has 18 brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Issa, Nahyan, Saif, Tahnoun, Hamed, Mansour, Falah, Theyab, Abdullah, Omar, Khalid, the late Khalifa, the late Sultan, the late Saeed, the late Nasser, and the late Ahmed. In addition to these, he has eleven sisters.

He has five younger full brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, Mansour, and Abdullah. They are referred to as Bani Fatima - or sons of Fatima.

Education

Sheikh Mohamed attended schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and a summer at Gordonstoun until the age of 18. In the Emirates, his father put a respected Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Islamic scholar named Izzedine Ibrahim in charge of his education.

In 1979, he joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst graduating in April 1979. During his time at Sandhurst, he completed a fundamental armor course, a fundamental flying course, a parachutist course, and training on tactical planes and helicopters, including the Gazelle squadron. During his time in Sandhurst, he met and became good friends with Abdullah of Pahang, who would later become the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia. They were both officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Mohamed then returned home to the UAE to join the Officers' Training Course in Sharjah. He has held a number of roles in the UAE military, from that of an officer in the Amiri Guard (now called Presidential Guard) to a pilot in the UAE Air Force.

Political career

Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Mohamed and U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David

In November 2003, Sheikh Zayed appointed his son Mohamed as deputy crown prince of Abu Dhabi. Upon the death of his father, Sheikh Mohamed became crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004 and was appointed deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces in January 2005. Later that month, he was promoted to the rank of general. Since December 2004 he has also been the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, which is responsible for the development and planning of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council. He also served as a special adviser to his older half-brother, Khalifa bin Zayed, president of the UAE at the time.

As a result of Sheikh Khalifa's ill health, Mohamed became the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi in January 2014 and was responsible for welcoming foreign dignitaries in the capital district of the United Arab Emirates in the city of Abu Dhabi. On 13 May 2022, he became the ruler of Abu Dhabi, following the death of his brother Khalifa. On 14 May 2022, he was elected as president of the United Arab Emirates.

UAE foreign policy

Sheikh Mohamed representing the United Arab Emirates in the NSS 2012

Israeli President Isaac Herzog meets Mohamed during his official visit to the United Arab Emirates, 30 January 2022

Al Nahyan meets with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Abu Dhabi, 15 April 2023

In 2018, Mohamed traveled to Ethiopia to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ahead of the first installment of a $3 billion donation from the UAE to Ethiopia, intended to tide over its foreign exchange shortage. Under Mohamed's encouragement and initiative, the UAE raised funds to provide aid to Somalia during periods of drought.

Mohamed is a supporter of Yemen's internationally recognized government after the Yemen civil war and supported the Saudi-led, western-backed intervention in Yemen to drive out Houthi militants after the Houthi takeover in Yemen. During Mohamed's visit to France in November 2018, a group of rights activists filed a lawsuit against the crown prince accusing him of "war crimes and complicity in torture and inhumane treatment in Yemen". The complaint filed on behalf of the French rights group AIDL said: "It is in this capacity that he has ordered bombings on Yemeni territory."

In March 2023, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad conducted a state visit to the UAE where he was received with full honours in Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Mohamed.

United States

Mohamed regards the United States as his chief ally and has a strong relationship with United States diplomats including US former Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and US former national security advisor and counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke. As unpaid advisers, Mohamed consults them and follows their advice on combating terrorism and enhancing the UAE's military strength and intelligence. Mohamed had an initially good relationship with the Obama administration but the relationship deteriorated when Barack Obama did not consult with or even inform the UAE about the Iran nuclear deal. According to an Emirati senior adviser, "His Highness felt that the UAE had made sacrifices and then been excluded." Mohamed continued talking to Obama regularly and offered him advice. He warned him that the proposed remedy in Syria — Islamist rebels — could be worse than Bashar al-Assad's tyranny. He also urged Obama to talk to the Russians about working together on Syria. The relationship deteriorated further when Obama made dismissive comments in a 2016 interview in The Atlantic, describing the gulf's rulers as "free riders" who "do not have the ability to put out the flames on their own". After the election of Donald Trump, Mohamed flew to New York to meet the president-elect's team and canceled a parting lunch with Obama.

Mohamed with U.S. President Joe Biden at the GCC+3 summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 16 July 2022

Mohamed shared similar ideas with President Trump regarding Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, as Trump has sought to move strongly against both. When Mohamed was a child, his father Sheikh Zayed unknowingly assigned a prominent Muslim Brotherhood member, Ezzedine Ibrahim, as Mohamed's tutor. His tutor attempted an indoctrination that backfired. "I am an Arab, I am a Muslim and I pray. And in the 1970s and early 1980s I was one of them," Mohamed told visiting American diplomats in 2007 to explain his distrust of the Muslim Brotherhood, as they reported in a classified cable released by WikiLeaks. He stated "I believe these guys have an agenda." Trump also shared Mohamed's views on Qatar, Libya and Saudi Arabia, even over the advice of cabinet officials and senior national security staff. In August 2020, Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohamed jointly announced the establishment of formal Israel–United Arab Emirates relations.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported that Al Nahyan refused to take phone calls with US President Joe Biden when Biden was asking for greater oil production from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates due to criticism of Biden's policy in the Gulf.

Egypt

On 22 March 2022, Sheikh Mohamed met with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Egypt. They discussed trilateral relations, Russo-Ukrainian War and the Iran nuclear deal.

Russia

Russian president Vladimir Putin meeting with Sheikh Mohamed in Saint Petersburg on 11 October 2022

Mohamed maintains a strong relationship with Russia and its president Vladimir Putin, and has brokered talks between Russia and the Trump administration. In 2016, Mohamed was found involved in the Russian meddling of the US presidential elections, where his adviser George Nader arranged a meeting for him and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Seychelles with US and Russian delegates, including Erik Prince and Kirill Dmitriev. Mohamed was named in the final report of special counsel Robert Mueller on the alleged collusion between Trump campaign and Russia, which the investigation later concluded that there was no collusion between the meeting that occurred with Mohamed. Mohamed's strong relationship with both Russia and the United States, as well as the influence he wields across both countries, has led The New York Times to label him as the Arab World's "most powerful ruler".

Putin calls Mohamed an "old friend" and "a big friend of our country, a big friend of Russia". The two leaders talk with each other on the phone regularly. In an official state visit to the Emirates, Putin gifted Mohamed a Russian gyrfalcon. The UAE also trained the first two Emirati astronauts Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi, and successfully launched the first Emirati and Arab astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri to the International Space Station with Russian help.

On 11 October 2022, Sheikh Mohamed met with Putin in Saint Petersburg, days after OPEC+ cut oil production.

In June 2023, Sheikh Mohamed met Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), and said the Emirates wished to strengthen ties with Russia. Mohamed became the most prominent attendee, as the UAE was a special guest country at the event. Several major US and European politicians and investors used to attend the forum before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the Western nations remained absent from the event in 2023. MbZ's diplomatic adviser, Anwar Gargash said it was a "calculated risk" that the UAE was willing to take for de-escalation in an increasingly polarized world. The UAE was, however, criticized for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, where the Emirates also became a mediator in sending Chinese weapons to Russia.

Turkey

In August 2021, Mohamed held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to discuss reinforcing relations between their two countries. This came after years of each state supporting opposing sides in regional conflicts, such as that in Libya. Relations started to improve between the two regional rivals – the UAE and Turkey – following the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US troops.

Nuclear energy

Under Mohamed's leadership, the UAE built the first-ever nuclear power reactor in the region, the Barakah nuclear power plant. The UAE and US signed a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation that enhances international standards of nuclear non-proliferation. Mohamed was at the Nuclear Security Summit of 2012 and 2014, which were hosted by South Korea and the Netherlands respectively.

Religion in the UAE

The BAPS present Hindu literature to Sheikh Mohamed and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abu Dhabi. At the rightmost corner is B. R. Shetty.

Islam is the official religion of the UAE and there are laws against blasphemy, proselytizing by non-Muslims, and conversions away from Islam. The constitution of the UAE guarantees freedom of worship, unless it contradicts public policy or morals. The UAE government tightly controls and monitors Muslim practices. A government permit is required to hold a Quran lecture or distribute content related to Islam in an effort to combat decentralized preaching from Islamist groups. All imams must receive their salaries from the UAE government.

Mohamed visited Pope Francis in 2016, and in February 2019, he welcomed Francis to the UAE, marking the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Pope Francis's arrival coincided with a conference entitled "Global Conference of Human Fraternity". The conference featured talks and workshops about how to foster religious tolerance. As part of this visit, Pope Francis held the first Papal Mass to be celebrated in the Arabian Peninsula at Zayed Sports City in which 180,000 worshippers from 100 countries, including 4,000 Muslims, were present.

Over the course of the last years, the UAE has seen the rise of Hindutva advocacy, and government allowed the building several privately-funded Hindu temples and the screening of the controversial movie, The Kashmir Files.

Domestic policy

Authoritarianism

Political scientists have characterized Mohamed bin Zayed as the strongman leader of an authoritarian regime, as there are no free and fair elections, political and civil rights are limited, free speech is restricted, and there are no free and independent media. According to the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the UAE practices torture, arbitrary detention, and forced disappearance of citizens and residents.

Political scientist Christopher Davidson has characterized Mohamed's tenure as de facto UAE leader as entailing "a marked and rapid intensification of autocratic-authoritarianism." Democracy indicators show "recent and substantial efforts to tighten up almost all remaining political and civic freedoms." According to Andreas Krieg, Mohamed's political ideology holds that strongman authoritarianism is the optimal governance system for the UAE.

Economic policy

Scholars have characterized the UAE under Mohamed bin Zayed's regime as a rentier state.

He previously served as the head of Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala Development Company, Tawazun Economic Council, and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge.

According to The Intercept and referencing the hacked emails of Yousef Al Otiaba, an American citizen Khaled Hassen received a $10 million in 2013 for an alleged torture settlement after a lawsuit presented in the federal court in Los Angeles against three senior Abu Dhabi royals, including Mohamed bin Zayed.

In June 2018, Mohamed approved a three-year AED 50 billion stimulus package. He also commissioned a review of building regulations in an effort to galvanize urban development.

Mohamed is chairman of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The council is the primary governing body of Abu Dhabi's financial, investment, economic, petroleum and natural resources affairs.

Military

Mohamed as Chief of Staff in his air force military uniform greeting then U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in Abu Dhabi, 1997

Mohamed served as an officer in the Amiri Guard (now known as Presidential Guard), as a pilot in the UAE's Air Force, as commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, and as deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces. In 2005, he was appointed deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces and was accordingly promoted to lieutenant general.

In the early 1990s, Mohamed told Richard Clarke, then an assistant secretary of state, that he wanted to buy the F-16 fighter jet. Clarke replied that he must mean the F-16A, the model the Pentagon sold to American allies. Mohamed said that instead he wanted a newer model he had read about in Aviation Week, with an advanced radar-and-weapons system. Clarke told him that that model did not exist yet; the military had not done the necessary research and development. Mohamed said the UAE would pay for the research and development. The subsequent negotiations went on for years, and according to Clarke "he ended up with a better F-16 than the US Air Force had".

Mohamed made jujitsu compulsory in schools. In 2014, he established the military draft, conscripting young Emiratis to attend a year of boot camp, initially running a pilot project within his own family and making his own daughters run as the sample size by making them attend boot camp. He invited Maj. Gen. Mike Hindmarsh, the retired former head of Australia's Special Operations Command, to help reorganize the Emirati military. According to the New York Times, as a result of Mohamed's vision, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces became the best equipped and trained military in the region apart from Israel. Under Mohamed's leadership, the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces also became commonly nicknamed as "Little Sparta" by United States Armed Forces General and former US defense secretary James Mattis as a result of their active and effective military role despite their small active personnel.

According to a 2020 study, Mohamed's reforms successfully increased the effectiveness of the UAE military.

Philanthropy

Mohamed with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., May 2017

..... The University of Texas chair for scientific and medical knowledge in cancer research is named after Mohamed as a result of a $150 million funding grant to MD Anderson Cancer Center. He organizes the Zayed Charity Marathon in New York City since its inauguration in 2005. The race raises awareness about kidney disease, and the proceeds go to the US's National Kidney Foundation.

MBZ has supported healthcare initiatives aimed at improving healthcare services and research. In 2009, he donated $150 million to establish the Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, which provides advanced healthcare services to patients in the UAE and the region.

Mohamed bin Zayed has been involved in setting up art museums, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017 and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2012, as well as cultural heritage sites such as Qasr Al Hosn.

Mohamed has been involved in efforts to protect wild falcons, bustards, and the Arabian oryx. He donated US$1 million to an initiative aimed at preventing the power line-related deaths of wild birds, as part of launching of the 20-million-dollar Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Foundation. He heads the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.

A species of woodlizard — Enyalioides binzayedi — was named after Mohamed as the creator of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund that provided financial support to the expeditions leading to the discovery of the species in the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru. In 2017, Acer binzayedii, a rare species of maple tree found in the mountainous cloud forest of Jalisco in Western Mexico, was named after him.

Personal life

Mohamed is married to Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They married in 1980. They have nine children together, four sons and five daughters. They have two adopted daughters, and together they have 18 grandchildren.

• Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan. The couple has two sons:
  • Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 14 April 2011)
  • Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 14 May 2014)
• Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan (born on 8 January 1982). He is married to Sheikha Fatima bint Suroor Al Nahyan since 2008 and they have three children:
  • Shamma bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 10 October 2011)
  • Mohammed bin Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013)
  • Salama bint Khaled Al Nahyan (born 20 December 2013)
• Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born on 18 June 1984). She is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan. They have four children:
  • Hessa bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 22 May 2003)
  • Zayed bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 29 December 2005)
  • Salama bint Mohammed Al Nahyan (born 11 July 2007)
  • Fatima bint Mohammed Al Nahyan
• Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is married to Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan. They have three children:
  • Fatima bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 4 June 2014)
  • Salama bint Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 February 2016)
  • Zayed bin Theyab Al Nahyan (born 7 May 2019)
• Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He married Sheikha Fakhra bint Khalifa Al Nahyan in 2021. They have one son:
  • Mohammed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (born 15 August 2022)
• Sheikha Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1989. She is married to Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al Nahyan. They have four children:
  • Mohammed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 20 November 2012)
  • Saif bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 15 June 2014)
  • Zayed bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 3 December 2018)
  • Mariam bint Nahyan Al Nahyan (born 16 August 2023)
• Sheikha Shamma bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in 1992. She is married to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. The couple has one son:
  • Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan (born 17 May 2023)
• Sheikh Zayed bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born on October 24, 1995. Graduated from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2020.
• Sheikha Hessa bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
• Amina - adopted daughter
• Salha - adopted daughter

A lifelong fan of falconry, Mohamed established the Mohamed bin Zayed Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School with the goal of promoting and sustaining the ancient tradition by teaching it to new generations of Emiratis. He himself learned the practice from his father.

Succession

Mohamed, in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, has issued an Emiri decree appointing his son Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan as the crown prince.

Honours

Styles of Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Reference style	His Highness
Spoken style	Your Highness
Alternative style	Ra'is (President)

•  Brazil: Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross (12 November 2021)
•  France:
  • Grand Cross of the National Order of Legion of Honour (18 July 2022)
  • Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (15 February 2013)
•  Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (29 October 2008)
•  Kosovo: Medal of the Order of Independence (21 April 2014)
•  Malaysia:
  • Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (17 June 2011)
  • Member of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (30 November 2023)
    • Pahang: Member 1st Class of the Family Order of the Crown of Indra of Pahang (30 November 2023)
•  Montenegro: Grand Cross of the Order of the Montenegrin Grand Star (12 December 2013)
•  Morocco: Collar of the Order of Muhammad (17 March 2015)
•  Oman: Collar of the Order of Al-Said (27 September 2022)
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (23 May 2008)
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (25 November 2010)

Place named after him

In April 2021, the Jakarta–Cikampek Elevated Toll Road in Indonesia was renamed as Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Skyway (Jalan Layang Mohamed bin Zayed), at the behest of the Indonesian President's secretary.