Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil ( ar, زين الشرف بنت جميل; 2 August 1916 – 26 April 1994) was the

Queen of Jordan This is a list of the women who have been queen consort of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan since the emirate was elevated to the status of a kingdom in 1949. As all monarchs of Jordan have been required by law to be male, there has never been ...

as the wife of

King Talal Talal bin Abdullah ( ar, طلال بن عبد الله, ; 26 February 1909 – 7 July 1972) was King of Jordan from the assassination of his father, King Abdullah I, on 20 July 1951 until his forced abdication on 11 August 1952. As a member of ...

. Queen Zein was the mother of

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...

Family

She was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, into a family of Hejazi and

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...

origin. Her mother was Wijdan Hanim, the daughter of Shakir Pasha, who was the grandnephew of the Ottoman-

Governor of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

Kâmil Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha ( ota, محمد كامل پاشا مصري زاده; tr, Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kiamil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman statesman and liberal poli ...

. Her father,

Sharif Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, f ...

Jamil bin Nasser, was the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Hauran; he was the nephew of Sharif Hussein bin Ali of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

. Her paternal aunts were

Musbah bint Nasser Musbah bint Nasser ( ar, مصباح بنت ناصر; 1884 – 15 March 1961) was the first queen consort of Jordan. She was born in 1884 in Mecca, Ottoman Empire. She was the elder twin daughter of Amir Nasser Pasha and his wife Dilber Khanum, th ...

and

Huzaima bint Nasser Huzaima bint Nasser (1884 – 27 March 1935) was an Arabian princess, Sharifa of Mecca. She was Queen of Syria and then Queen of Iraq by marriage to Faisal I of Iraq, and queen mother during the reign of her son. Biography Her father was Amir ...

Marriage and children

Zein married her first cousin Prince Talal bin Abdullah of Jordan on 27 November 1934, with whom she had four sons and two daughters: *

(14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) * Princess Asma (deceased, at birth in 1937) * Prince Muhammad (2 October 1940 – 29 April 2021) *

Prince Hassan Prince Hassan bin Talal ( ar, الحسن بن طلال, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein's death ...

(born 20 March 1947) * Prince Muhsin (deceased) * Princess Basma (born 11 May 1951)

Career

Queen Zein played a major role in the political development of the Jordanian Kingdom in the early 1950s, by supporting efforts in charitable works and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. She took part in the writing of the 1952

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

that gave certain rights to women and enhanced the social development of the country. She also created the first women’s

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

of Jordan in 1944. Queen Zein further filled a constitutional vacuum after the assassination of the late

King Abdullah I AbdullahI bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبد الله الأول بن الحسين, translit=Abd Allāh al-Awwal bin al-Husayn, 2 February 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the ruler of Jordan from 11 April 1921 until his assassination in 1951. He was the Emir ...

in 1951, while the newly proclaimed King Talal was being treated outside the Kingdom. The Queen again performed this role during the period between August 1952, when her son, King Hussein, was proclaimed monarch, and May 1953, when he assumed constitutional duties at the age of eighteen. Following the arrival of Palestinian refugees into Jordan after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, she led national relief efforts to help the tens of thousands of refugees. She was also instrumental in establishing the women's branch of the Jordan National

Red Crescent Society The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...

in 1948. Throughout her life, Queen Zein dedicated time and energy to the Um Al Hussein

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...

in Amman.

Honours

National honours

* : **

Dame Grand Cordon with Collar of the

Order of al-Hussein bin Ali The Order of al-Hussein bin Ali is the highest order of the Kingdom of Jordan. It was founded on 22 June 1949 with one class (i.e. Collar) by King Abdullah I of Jordan with the scope of rewarding benevolence and foreign Heads of State. The class ...

Foreign honours

* : ** Honorary Grand Commander of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace ...

(SMN (K)) - Tun (24 April 1965)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zein Al-Sharaf Talal 1916 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Arabs Arab queens Jordanian royal consorts Jordanian people of Turkish descent Jordanian people of Egyptian descent Women humanitarians People from Alexandria House of Hashim Jordanian activists Jordanian women activists Jordanian Muslims 20th-century philanthropists Honorary Grand Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm 20th-century women philanthropists 20th-century Jordanian women Queen mothers