The Hashemites
The Hashemites, direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon him, through his daughter Fatima and her husband Ali bin Abi Talib, the Prophet's paternal first cousin and the fourth Caliph of Islam, have ruled Jordan since its creation in 1921 after Arab armies liberated Damascus, modern Jordan and most of the Arabian Peninsula at the end of World War I.
The Hashemites, or Bani Hashem, are descendants of the Arab chieftain Quraysh, a descendant of the Prophet Ismail, son of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). Quraysh first came to the holy city of Mecca during the second century AD. Six generations later, his descendant, Qusayy bin Kilab ascended to the leadership of Mecca in the year 480 AD. The name "Hashem" is that of Qusayy's grandson, who was the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon him.
Ali and Fatima had two sons: Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein. The Royal Jordanian Family, the Hashemites, is descendents of Al-Hassan, the Sharifian branch of the lineage.
Various Sharifian families ruled over the Hijaz region in Western Arabia between 967 and 1201 AD. The Hashemite Family ruled the holy city of Mecca from 1201 AD until 1925 AD, representing over one thousand years of rule in the area, and almost two thousand years of recorded presence in the holy city of Mecca.
During the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, which called for Arab independence and unity, Al-Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and King of the Arabs, led the liberation of Arab lands from their domination by the Ottoman Turks. He sought to establish a single and unified Arab state based on common Arab traditions upholding Islamic values and the full protection and inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities. The colonial powers of Britain and France denied the Arabs their single unified state.
After freeing the Arab lands, Sharif Hussein's son Abdullah assumed the throne of Transjordan, while his son Faisal assumed the throne of Syria and later Iraq. The Emirate of Transjordan was founded on April 11, 1921, and became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan upon formal independence from Britain in 1946.
During his thirty-year reign, King Abdullah I forged a viable and resilient state out of a disparate, tribal, nomadic society. He formulated the institutional foundations of modern Jordan, promulgating Jordan's first Organic Law in 1928, the basis for today’s Constitution, and held the first elections in 1929.
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan’s Arab Legion was instrumental in the defense of Jerusalem and parts of Palestine. On July 20, 1951, King Abdullah I traveled to Jerusalem to perform his Friday prayers with his young grandson, Prince Hussein. He was assassinated by a lone gunman on the steps of one of the holiest shrines of Islam, Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hussein was saved from a bullet by a medal his grandfather had recently awarded him and insisted he wear.
King Talal, King Abdullah I’s eldest son assumed the throne, after his father’s death. ruled for a less than a year due to illness. His greatest contribution was the development of a new, liberalized constitution, making the government collectively and ministers individually responsible before parliament. Due to his illness, his eldest son and heir apparent, Prince Hussein, was proclaimed King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on August 11, 1952. King Hussein assumed his constitutional powers on May 2, 1953, after reaching the age of eighteen according to the Muslim calendar.
Throughout his 47-year reign, King Hussein devoted his life to making the Middle East – and the world – more peaceful, progressive and prosperous. He led his country through conflict and turmoil to become a sanctuary of peace, stability and moderation in the Middle East.
He led his country from a pre-industrial state to a modern model of political, economic, and social progress in two generations. He accomplished such extraordinary progress by advancing universal education, exemplary health care, role of women, and a participatory and pluralistic system of governance – all within the framework of Arab and Islamic principles.
He struggled throughout his reign to secure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
King Hussein died on February 7, 1999 after a battle with cancer. His Majesty King Abdullah II, the eldest son of the late King Hussein, assumed the head of the Hashemite family and was proclaimed King upon King Hussein’s death.
