Ahmad AlShugairi

Education

After attending the Al-Manarat schools in Jeddah, he went to the United States at seventeen, earning a bachelor's degree in management information systems from California State University, Long Beach, followed by an MBA. He returned to Saudi Arabia in 1996 and first worked in the family business. He is the grandson of Ahmad Shukeiri, the first chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Television

He entered the media in 2002 with the programme Yalla Shabab, first behind the scenes and then on air, and the same year presented Law Kana Baynana (If He Were Among Us), on the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and a journey with the American scholar Hamza Yusuf on MBC. Khawater then took him to Japan, Europe and across the Muslim world, comparing how societies work and urging viewers towards practical self-improvement. He went on to present Qomra and, in 2021, Seen.

Books and projects

He has published several books based on his programmes, including the Khawater Shab series, as well as My Journey with Gandhi and Forty (Arba'un), written after a forty-day retreat on an island. In Jeddah he founded the Andalusia cultural café with its own library, and launched online platforms devoted to culture and volunteering.

In 2015 he received the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award, worth one million US dollars; that year he was also the most-followed person on Twitter in Saudi Arabia.