Abdullah II of Jordan

He is a member of the Hashemite Dynasty, who have been the reigning Royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is considered a 41st-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Abdullah was born in Amman as the first child of King Hussein and his second wife, Princess Muna.

The longest-serving current Arab leader, he is custodian of the Muslim and Christian religious sites in Jerusalem, a position held by his Dynasty since 1924.

The 2021 Pandora Papers and 2022 Credit Suisse leak revealed Abdullah's vast hidden wealth through offshore entities, countered by the Royal Court citing privacy and security reasons, attributing the funds to inherited wealth.

Abdullah's Dynasty, the Hashemites, ruled Mecca for over 700 years—from the 10th century until the House of Saud conquered Mecca in 1925—and have ruled Jordan since 1921.

The Hashemites are the oldest ruling Dynasty in the Muslim world.

He joined the Royal Jordanian Army on his return home, serving as first lieutenant and then as platoon commander and assistant commander of a company in the 40th Armored Brigade.

According to family tradition, Abdullah is the 41st-generation agnatic descendant of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and her husband, Ali, the fourth Rashidun caliph.

As Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah became heir apparent to the Jordanian throne under the 1952 constitution.

Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein (عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999.

Abdullah was born on 30 January 1962 at Palestine Hospital in Amman, to King Hussein and Hussein's British-born second wife, Princess Muna al-Hussein (born Antoinette Avril Gardiner).

He is the namesake of his paternal great-grandfather, Abdullah I, who founded modern Jordan.

As the king's eldest son, Abdullah was heir apparent until Hussein transferred the title to Abdullah's uncle Prince Hassan in 1965.

Abdullah began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad.

Political instability caused King Hussein to appoint an adult heir in his place, choosing Abdullah's uncle Prince Hassan in 1965.

Abdullah began his schooling in 1966 at the Islamic Educational College in Amman, and continued at St Edmund's School in England.

He attended middle school at Eaglebrook School and high school at Deerfield Academy in the United States.

He began his military career in 1980 as a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces, later assuming command of the country's Special Forces in 1994, eventually becoming a major general in 1998.

He began his military career at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England in 1980, while he was a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces.

Abdullah was admitted to Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1982, where he completed a one-year special-studies course in Middle Eastern affairs.

Abdullah took a free-fall parachuting course in Jordan, and in 1985 he took the Armored Officer's Advanced Course at Fort Knox.

The prince then attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in 1987, undertaking advanced study and research in international affairs.

He returned home to serve as assistant commander of the 17th Royal Tank Battalion in 1989, later being promoted to major.

Abdullah attended a staff course at the British Staff College in 1990, and served the following year in the Office of the Inspector General of the Jordanian Armed Forces as the Armored Corps representative.

He became commander of a tank company in the 91st Armored Brigade, with the rank of captain.

Abdullah also served with the Royal Jordanian Air Force's anti-tank helicopter wing, receiving training to fly Cobra attack-helicopters.

He commanded a battalion in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1992 and was promoted to colonel the following year, commanding the 40th Brigade.

In 1993, Abdullah married Rania Al-Yassin, with whom he has four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem.

Abdullah met Rania Al-Yassin, a marketing employee at Apple Inc. in Amman, at a dinner organized by his sister Princess Aisha in January 1993.

A few weeks before his death in 1999, King Hussein named Abdullah his heir, and Abdullah succeeded his father.

He was the commencement speaker at Deerfield Academy's class of 2000 graduation.

Abdullah has four brothers and six sisters: Princess Alia, Prince Faisal, Princess Aisha, Princess Zein, Princess Haya, Prince Ali, Prince Hamzah, Prince Hashem, Princess Iman and Princess Raiyah; seven of them are paternal half-siblings.

Abdullah, a constitutional monarch with wide executive and legislative powers, liberalized the economy when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008.

During the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring.

In 2011, large-scale protests demanding reform erupted in the Arab world, which led to civil wars in some countries.

Abdullah responded quickly to domestic unrest by replacing the government and introducing reforms.

After Sandhurst, Abdullah was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British Army and served a year in Britain and West Germany as a troop commander in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars.

Proportional representation was reintroduced to the Jordanian parliament in the 2016, a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary governments, but government critics remained skeptical, viewing the reforms as cosmetic changes.

The reforms took place amid unprecedented challenges stemming from regional instability, including an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees.

Abdullah is known for promoting interfaith dialogue and a moderate understanding of Islam.