section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Hassan was born in Jalalaqsi in the central region of Hiiraan. From a middle class background, his father is from the Abgaal clan and a mother from the Hawadle clan. Hassan attended primary and secondary schools in his hometown. He later moved to the capital Mogadishu in 1978, where he studied for three years at the local Somali National University. In 1981, he earned an undergraduate diploma in technology from the institution.
  
  In 1986, Hassan journeyed to India and began attending Bhopal University (now Barkatullah University) where he completed a master's degree in technical education in 1988. Hassan is also a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University 's Summer Peacebuilding Institute based in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In 2001, he completed three of the SPI's intensive courses, studying mediation, trauma healing, and designing learner-centered trainings. Hassan is married to Qamar Ali Omar and has seven children.
  
  Following his second term election for the presidency of Somalia, the University for Peace revealed that Hassan is a Ph.D. candidate at the university. In October 2022, the presidency announced that Hassan defended his doctoral dissertation in Peace, Governance and Development, the first sitting Somali president to do so.