Jordan

Hashemite emirate then kingdom out of the British mandate; a land taken into Islam in the Rāshidūn conquests of the 7th century and dotted with the Umayyads' desert palaces, today overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim with a historic Christian minority.

☾ The Coming of Islam

The conquest of the Levant and the Umayyad heartland

The land of modern Jordan passed into Muslim rule after the Battle of the Yarmūk (636) opened the Levant to the Rāshidūn caliphate. Under the Damascus-based Umayyads it lay in the imperial heartland, dotted with their celebrated desert palaces such as Quṣayr ʿAmra.

☾ Religious Composition

An overwhelmingly Sunni-Muslim society

Virtually the entire population is Sunni Muslim, with a long-established Christian minority (mostly Greek Orthodox) and small Circassian and other communities.

Demographic shares are approximate.

⌂ Contemporary Muslim Life

A Hashemite kingdom with custodial religious ties

Jordan's ruling Hāshimite dynasty traces descent from the Prophet's ﷺ family and holds a recognised custodial role over Muslim (and Christian) holy sites in Jerusalem, a role central to the kingdom's religious standing.

At a glance