The world was stunned when King Hussein of Jordan, who was suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, named his eldest son Abdullah his successor, replacing Abdullah’s half-brother Hamzah as crown prince. On 7 February 1999, Abdullah, who became a crown prince on 24 January, ascended the Jordanian throne shortly after the death of his father. His wife, then Princess Rania became the world’s youngest living queen at the age of 29. Just like her step-mother in law Queen Noor, she is known for her charity work and involved in women, children, and family affairs; an issue that one would rarely discuss in an Arabic country. In 2006, she was named as one of the Most Influential People by Time Magazine and Most Powerful Women by Forbes.
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, formerly Rania al-Yasin, was born in Kuwait in 1970 to a Moslem Palestinian family. Shortly after the 1991 Gulf War which resulted in the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, she and her family fled and settled in Jordan. She studied at New English School in Kuwait City and American University in Cairo, Egypt; both are Western schools. She graduated with a business degree and worked in Citibank and Apple Computers in Amman, Jordan. She met her future husband (love at first sight!) at a dinner party in January 1993. They got married 6 months later and now have 4 children.
Back in 1993, when I first met Prince Abdullah at a dinner, I could never have imagined what fate had in store for me. At that time, as a recent graduate, I was living and working in Amman, and certainly never expected to marry a Prince of the Hashemite lineage or, one day, become the Queen of Jordan. Queen Rania
Unlike other Arab women, she is a free, bright, elegant, active, knowledgeable, and smart woman with a pleasant personality who is committed to family’s issues and is a supporter of the women’s rights. She has won the respect and admiration of many women in her country for her advocacy, founding many organisations and counselling centres to improve the life of Jordanians. She is fighting to change misconceptions of Moslem women, improve Jordanian education standards, tackle poverty, and end child abuse as well as honour killings that occur in her country. She is a new generation of an Arab woman who promotes the freedoms and modern values to not only her nation but also the Middle East countries.
If you educate the women, you educate the family. If you educate the girl, you educate the future.
I first saw her in a documentary about King Abdullah on TV years ago and noticed a unique side of her. She became one of few public figures that I admire. A few days ago, I found a full version of her television interview on Oprah and adored her thoughts & ideas that are so well-spoken. She talked about how she thinks we can fight terrorism, by educating our children and introducing them to other cultures and religions. In that way, they’ll be encouraged to think and debate these issues themselves and not to be influenced by other people’s opinions. “We have to create opportunities for our youth so they have a chance in life,” she said. “Whenever you’re frustrated and you feel like you don’t have a future or you can’t get a job, then you’re more susceptible to be influenced by terrorism and extremist ideology.”
She explained about the Moslem veil that is viewed by the West as a sign of oppression when it’s actually a matter of choice for women to wear it or not. I love it when she said, “We should judge women according to what’s going on in their heads, rather than what’s on top of their heads.” 🙂 She also talked about her children; how important it is to introduce them with the right values, which are “the shield that you carry with you throughout life. It protects you from whatever life throws at you”.
They [her children] have to feel like they are global citizens. To really have an understanding of the world at large. Once you feel that others are like you, then you want for others what you want for yourself. And that way you start helping others.
A lot of times when we look at problems happening halfway across the world and we think, ‘Well, that’s their problem.’ But it’s not. When you solve somebody else’s problems, you’re solving a problem for yourself, because our world today is so interconnected.
Oh. She is definitely my most favourite queen!! She’s gorgeous, don’t you think?? Rania rules!
More about Queen Rania:
27 Responses
Smart women are adorable 🙂
hmmm.. disamping lelaki yang sukses, ada seorang perempuan yang hebat, pasti beliau salah satunya
yup, ga salah kalo dia jadi ratu favorit kamu :p, jutaan rakyat jordan dan mungkin juga dunia
My wife and I like her so much that we even name our daughter Rania.
“We should judge women according what’s going on in their heads, rather than what’s on top of their heads.”
hidup Rania!!,hanya itu…
one more,I really agree when she said islam is about moral and spiritual fulfillment…
kadang sbagai wanita muslim gue sering bertanya2..kenapa agama harus mengatur fashion dan kreatifitas gue dalam berpakaian..
nggak pake jilbabkan nggak merugikan orang lain..dan kenapa gue harus berdosa,kalo gue nggak mau memakainya…
and nice to hear,she said,its a matter of choice,…
I’ve always admired how smart and elegant she is ever since she became queen (oh btw I was in Jordan when Abdullah became king! 😀 )
and look at the pics of her in Oprah, she looks just like a supermodel!! (she looks really similar to Alessandra Ambrosio in those pics)
BARRY: Wow, I think I should consider naming my daughter Rania too 😛 hehe j/k.
ctrlz: yup.. she defends and speaks for women.. that’s what i like about her! 🙂 Oh, one more thing. It’s not only Islam that has rules about how we should dress. Both Judaism and Christianity have those rules in their Books 🙂
Dessy: Hoah.. did you go to the street to see her?? 😀
cantik … pintar … waaaaaa
Well, empowerment of women could really worth the effort, however it should be noted that women has also its sole and primary role in marriage to respect men as well as more equality is presented upon her. 🙂
wow..*ngelamun*..
she is indeed gorgeous and admirable. have been watching her for quite some time, and am satisfied with the image she is projecting.
“We should judge women according what’s going on in their heads, rather than what’s on top of their heads.” –> brilliant! I just wish such thinking could be spread – and later shared – by people on both sides of the current so-called civilizations.
@amel: love your postingan mel!
@bintang jatuh: itu kalo tokohnya laki laki goz, karena tohoh utamanya perempuan, coba diputer, dibalik wanita yang sukses, ada laki laki yang sukses. bayangin suaminya coba! pasti imam yang calon surga, bisa mendidik istri dan memberikan kebebasan bagi istri untuk mendidik bukan cuma keluarga, tapi juga dunia.
@meda: hayo, ingat..”We should judge women according what’s going on in their heads, rather than what’s on top of their heads”, termasuk juga rather than what’s her face looks like..
hahaha, sirik, soalnya gak secantik rania. lol..hehehe
tapi memang, islam butuh banyak Rania, untuk jadi duta muslimah!
hayo, amel, selanjutnya. gaet raja raja saudi dunk mel.
loh!!??
hehehe, kidding neng.
Luigi: Of course! That’s a very important role! But empowerment is not only about giving more freedom to women, it’s about educating them so that they can educate and raise their children. Unfortunately, in some countries, women don’t have a full access to the education. That’s a pity.
mulia: thanks :). yap, semoga dengan adanya Rania, tambah banyak aktivis perempuan dari dunia Islam who can follow her step, membuat perubahan & awareness ttg hak2 wanita muslim en memberikan image yang baik ttg keberadaan wanita muslim di Barat sana. Unfortunately, kalo kita lihat kebanyakan pemimpin di negara muslim/di negara yang mayoritas penduduknya adalah muslim, istri2nya/First Lady tidak begitu aktif seperti Rania. Kebanyakan hanya menikmati posisi mereka sebagai ibu negara… berfoya2.. dll. Atau malah suaminya tidak memberikan kebebasan kepada mereka. We definitely need a change!
Hahaha. Raja Saudi?? I don’t think I want that. I’m totally against polygamy. Marrying a Saudi royal means having a risk of getting unwanted and unwelcomed “enemies” LOL.
“We should judge women according what’s going on in their heads, rather than what’s on top of their heads.”
hihihi… itu mah jawaban chrisye, eh salah, klise maksudnya…
buat researcher atau programmer, jawaban itu mungkin bener (hahaha), tapi buat public figure atau keluarga monarki, ya tetep aja beda…
lah buktinya, di gambar2 Queen Rania di bagian akhir postingan ini, busana yg dipakai “cool” semuanya. artinya, apa yang dipakai olehnya juga memegang peranan yg sangat penting dalam “menciptakan” image…
hihihi… gak penting banget deh komentar saya…
wah nama anak kamu nanti Rania Sanusi dong mel? hehehe..
@mulia : yup, kalo dibalik tentunya begitu, kalo di ilmu biologi, istilahnya simbiosis apa mul? ^^
@Goz: hehe Goz, ngetes yah. tau aja g minggu depan ujian.
simbiosis adalah interaksi antara dua mahluk hidup, yang kalo kata wikipedia, at least salah satunya untung. padahal bisa aja dengan berkembangnya jaman yang makin edan, relationship dilakukan walau kedua belah pihak tidak diuntungkan atau dirugikan..hehe.
Mel..setuju, she is beautiful…!
btw, pakabarnya?
hari Minggu ada pengajian khataman qur’a, yg pernah aku blangin itu. Kasih tau kalau ma pergi ya, and…kamis ini aku ada operasi kecil di Spring Hills, tolong do’ain ya
betul..betul..smart banget!
punya nama yang mirip, jadi malu :”>
nice site here..
lam kenal ya 🙂
agusset: nope. Saya tidak setuju. Emang bener dia berasal dari keluarga kerajaan. Tapi saya salut ama dia karena dia gak cuma “bersenang2” menjadi ratu.. tinggal diam aja pake mahkota. tapi dia ikut membantu suaminya, mensejahterahkan rakyat Jordan, en membuka mata wanita2 arab sana yang “dikurung” oleh laki2. Contohnya aja, child abuse. Coba kalo saya yang bilang ke mereka kalo child abuse itu berdosa, siapa sih yang mo denger??? Justru karena dia seorang ratu, a lot of people will hear what she says.. (at least, walopun org2 itu tdk percaya awalnya.. mereka mau denger…) therefore perlakuan2 yang biadab itu bisa dihindarkan. Iya, bisa aja saya “meyakinkan” mereka kalo itu bertentangan dgn agama, misalnya. But I’m sure, butuh waktu yg amat sangat lama untuk meyakinkan mereka. YEs.. kata2 nya emang klise. But you know.. people in the West will listen and believe her. Perhaps after watching her on Oprah, they’d hopefully come to a conclusion that not all arabs are extrimists and women who wear hijab are not opressed. At least, that’d change the mind of some people.
Soal pakaian.. well.. that’s normal!! Everyone wants to feel and look good… especially women!
ina: Insya Allah baik2 aja yah mbak. Aku doain lancar :). Sori, aku gak bisa ikut pengajian karena hari sabtu malem udah cabut ke Jeddah :D.
ruanee: Thanks. Salam kenal juga 🙂
# Amel:
You wrote: “Coba kalo saya yang bilang ke mereka kalo child abuse itu berdosa, siapa sih yang mo denger???”
Nah, apa yg Amel bilang itu malah lebih menunjukkan dan membuktikan bahwa hal yang mungkin lebih penting atau utama untuk didengar dan diperhatikan orang (apa yang ada di dalam kepala kita) adalah “status sosial” 😉
jadi apa yang ada di dalam kepala saja gak cukup kan? makanya saya bilang jawaban seperti itu klise sekali. 🙂
soal pakaian, ini cukup menarik utk dibahas, apalagi kalau ditinjau dari siapa yg memakai. pemimpin agama seperti Paus atau imam tidak mungkin juga berpakaian sekenanya (atau memakai pakaian yang menjadi ciri khas pemeluk agama lain), karena itu bagian dari sebuah image atau secara implisit dapat menyiratkan “keimanan”, paham, atau bahkan bisa dianggap menghina, dll. memang terlihat naif, tapi itu fakta bahwa memang ada simbol2 tertentu yg telah melekat dan menjadi ciri agama atau golongan tertentu.
soal hijab atau yang sejenisnya, memang cukup panjang kalau mau dibahas, tapi bukannya “perintah” itu akan lebih baik kalau dilaksanakan?
sorry kalau ada yg kurang berkenan dan juga kalau kepanjangan…
meell .. pa kabar? sibuk yaa? kapan update blog lagi? hehehe …
agusset: hahaha. saya selalu salah paham deh. sepertinya bhs indonesia saya emang bener2 bermasalah 😛 (pas SMA, nilai bhs indo saya paling rendah kedua daripd pelajaran yang lain :D).
ok, ttg hijab… emang lebih baik dilaksanakan. tapi menurut saya itu urusan pribadi org tersebut. itu pilihan. krn saya sendiri gak dipaksa pake jilbab sama orgtua. klo org itu gak pake jilbab, then it doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person.
Sorry?? Wih, gak apa2.. justru senang bisa berbagi pendapat.. 🙂 Justru saya minta maaf kalo terlalu ngeyel :D.
Meda: iya nih.. baru aja selese ujian!! heheheheheh senaaaaaaaaaang.
Wow she is gorgeous :). I read about her several years ago (that’s before many exposures she gain now), and she’s still just as humble!
How’s your exam?
Oskar Syahbana: exam was great. except the last one… coz i had little motivation to study.. 😀
Mel, you won an award from moi. 😉
Your majesty…I’am Indonesian…you are the adorable woman in that i’ve seen..
I saw in your blog and whole of ur activities that you concern on woman and child porsperity…I proud of U your majesty..
Indonesia is my country thats still has intimedate for woman and children…Indonesia still has lack of education’s facilities…would u please to come to my country to see that is my country needs some one like u your majesty…?
thanks for chance to write this short words and hope…
salam
_SARTIKA_