Muhammad Fuad Masum Hurami (Arabic: محمد فؤاد معصوم, romanized: Muḥammad Fū’ād Ma‘ṣūm; Kurdish: محەممەد فوئاد مەعسووم هەورامی, born 1 January 1938) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the seventh president of Iraq from 24 July 2014 to 2 October 2018. He was elected as president following the 2014 parliamentary election.^[1] Masum is the second non-Arab president of Iraq, succeeding Jalal Talabani, also Kurdish, and was a confidant of Talabani.

Fuad Masum was born in the city of Koya. He is the son of Mullah Masum Khider, a former head of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Kurdistan, who belongs to an established political dynasty with Muslim clerical links.^[2][3] His family descends from the village of Khabanen, which is part of Hawraman.^[4] He studied at various religious schools in Iraqi Kurdistan until the age of 18. He studied law and Sharia at Baghdad University.^[5] In 1958, Masum traveled to Cairo to complete his higher education at Al-Azhar University.^[6] He worked as a professor in Basrah University in 1968.^[5] He earned his PhD in Islamic philosophy from Al-Azhar in 1975.^[5]

Masum joined the Iraqi Communist Party in 1962, until 1964, where he travelled to Syria to meet the Communist Party secretary there, Khalid Bakdash.^[4] After Masum discovered Bakdash's attitudes against the Kurds, he quit the party to join the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK).^[7][8]

In 1968, Masum was the PDK representative in Basra. He was also the representative of the Kurdish Revolution in Cairo until 1975.^[4]

Masum was one of the founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in 1976.^[7] By 1992, he was the first Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region.^[7] In 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, Masum returned to Baghdad to be a member of the delegation representing Kurdistan, and was a member of the constitution drafting committee.^[4] In 2010, Masum became the first Speaker of the Council of Representatives.^[5]

In 2014, he was elected by the parliament representatives as the seventh president of Iraq.^[9] Masum won 211 votes while his closest competitor, Barham Salih,^[9] only received 17.^[10] The decision was made during a secret vote of Kurdish MPs, who traditionally have control over the presidency for the sake of political balance.^[9] United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was present in Iraq when the decision was made, meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about the need for a more inclusive government.^[11] Masum accepted the position, noting the "huge security, political and economic tasks" he faces as president.^[12]

On 26 August, Masum appointed a new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi.^[13] His appointment was considered illegal by Nouri al-Maliki and in violation of the constitution.^[14] Maliki said that in spite of his erosion of power it was his duty to remain in power because the appointment was a conspiracy rooted from outside of Iraq.^[15] Al-Maliki referred the matter to the federal court claiming, "the insistence on this until the end is to protect the state."^[16] However, on 14 August 2014, in the face of growing calls from world leaders and members of his own party, Maliki announced he was stepping down, paving the way for al-Abadi to take over.^[17]

Masum married to Rounak Abdulwahid Mustafa (1941–2023)^[18] in 1968, and has five daughters: Shireen (b. 1969), Juwan (b. 1972), Zozan (b. 1977), Shilan (b. 1979) and Veyan (b. 1984). He had a son, Showan (1974–1988), who died from a childhood illness.^[19]

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