Arab potentate who ruled Abū Ẓaby from 1928 until he was deposed in 1966.

As ruler of the largest emirate within the British-controlled Trucial Coast, Shakhbūṭ maintained friendly relations with the United Kingdom and successfully resisted territorial incursions in a prolonged border dispute with Saudi Arabia. He was an early supporter of Western oil exploration and granted drilling rights that earned Abū Ẓaby as much as $70 million per year in the mid-1960s. He was reluctant to invest the emirate's oil earnings in schools and major development projects. On Aug. 6, 1966, a council of the Abū Ẓaby royal family replaced him with his more progressive younger brother, Sheikh Zāyid ibn Suḷtān. After four years in exile, Shakhbūṭ returned to the royal palace.