Prince Hassan bin Talal

El Hassan Prince El Hassan of Jordan Prince El Hassan bin Talal in Berlin 2006 Spouse Princess Sarvath El Hassan Issue Princess Rahma Princess Sumaya Princess Badiya Prince Rashid Father Talal of Jordan Mother Zein al Sharaf Talal Born (1947-03-20) 20 March 1947 (age 65) Amman, Jordan

Jordanian Royal Family HM The King HM The Queen HRH The Crown Prince HRH Princess Iman HRH Princess Salma HRH Prince Hashem HM Queen Noor Extended royal family HRH Prince Hamzah HRH Princess Haya HRH Prince Hashim HRH Princess Fahdah HRH Princess Haalah HRH Princess Rayet HRH Princess Iman HRH Princess Raiyah HRH Princess Haya HRH Prince Ali HRH Princess Rym HRH Princess Jalilah HRH Prince Abdullah Miss Abir Muhaisen Princess Dina HRH Princess Alia HRH Princess Muna HRH Prince Faisal HRH Princess Sara HRH Princess Ayah HRH Prince Omar HRH Princess Sara HRH Princess Aisha HRH Princess Aisha HRH Princess Zein HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Taghrid HRH Prince Talal HRH Princess Ghida HRH Prince Hussein HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Rajaa HRH Prince Ghazi HRH Princess Areej HRH Princess Tasneem HRH Prince Abdullah HRH Princess Jennah HRH Princess Firyal HRH Prince El Hassan HRH Princess Sarvath HRH Princess Rahma HRH Princess Sumaya HRH Princess Badiya HRH Prince Rashid HRH Princess Zeina HRH Princess Basma HRH Prince Ali HRH Princess Reema HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Sima HRH Prince Hamzah HRH Princess Rania HRH Princess Karma HRH Princess Na'afa HRH Princess Rajwa HRH Princess Basma Fatima HRH Prince Asem HRH Princess Sana HRH Princess Yasmine HRH Princess Sarah HRH Princess Noor HRH Princess Salha HRH Princess Nejla HRH Prince Nayef

Prince El Hassan bin Talal (Arabic: الحسن بن طلال‎) was born on 20 March 1947 in Amman, as a member of the Jordanian royal family.

Family

He is the son of King Talal and Queen Zein al-Sharaf. He is also brother to the late King Hussein, was Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999 and is uncle to the present King Abdullah II of Jordan.

In 1968, Prince Hassan married Sarvath Ikramullah, daughter of Pakistani statesman and diplomat, Sir Mohammed Ikramullah and Pakistani female politician, diplomat and notable Urdu author, Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah. They first met in London in 1958, when they were both youngsters and have four children together:

• Princess Rahma (born 13 August 1969)
• Princess Sumaya (born 14 May 1971)
• Princess Badiya (born 28 March 1974)
• Prince Rashid (born 20 May 1979)

Education

Prince Hassan was educated first in Amman. He then attended Summer Fields School, Harrow School in England as well as Christ Church, Oxford University, where he received a BA Hons in Oriental Studies and proceeded to the MA. Prince Hassan is fluent in Arabic, English, French and German. He has a working knowledge of Turkish and Spanish, and studied Hebrew at university.^[1]

Career

From 1965 to 1999, Hassan served as Crown Prince of Jordan and was frequently regent during his brother's absences from the country. During Hussein's final illness, he was replaced by his nephew Abdullah only days before the king died. Abdullah subsequently inherited the throne of Jordan.

In 2002, Prince Hassan was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York, in recognition of his contribution to the field of post-war reconstruction and development.^[2] In 2004 he was awarded an honorary fellowship by York St John University, for his lifelong contribution to peace initiatives in the Middle East, humanitarian projects and inspirational leadership in interfaith dialogue.

In 2009, he joined the project "Soldiers of Peace", a movie against all wars and for global peace.^[3][4]

Organizations

The following includes some of the organizations that Prince Hassan belongs to and/or founded.

Member of the:

• Advisory Board of the think tank Gold Mercury International, London, UK
• Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Washington, DC (2002)
• Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD), University of Geneva, Switzerland ^[5]
• Executive Committee of the International Crisis Group
• The International Advisory Board of Forum 2000
• Committee of Personalities of Institut Catala De La Mediterrania
• Informal Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor
• International Board of the Council on Foreign Relations
• World Future Council
• Board of World Religious Leaders for The Elijah Interfaith Institute^[6]
• Trilateral Commission
• Member of the Advisory Council for Research of the Center for Democracy and Community Development (2010)
• In June 2003, following the U.N. General Assembly resolution 56/266, HRH was elected as one of five regional experts in the Independent Eminent Experts group, appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to implement the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Moderator of the:

• World Conference of Religions for Peace

Patron of the:

• Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), University of York^[2]
• The Co-existence of Civilizations
• Rights and Humanity

Founder and/or Chairman of the:

• Policy Advisory Commission for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (1999–2002)
• Co-Chair of the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues
• Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI)
• The Higher Council for Science and Technology
• Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS)
• Foundation for Intercultural and Interfaith Research and Dialogue
• Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center
• West Asia - North Africa Forum (WANA Forum)

President of the:

• Club of Rome 1999–2007
• President and Founder of the Arab Thought Forum since 1981
• Board of Directors for the Center for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution at OU
• The Parliament of Cultures
• Royal Jordanian Polo Club
• Co-president of the International Tolerance Foundation for Humanities and Social Studies

Established the:

• Al al-Bayt University in Mafraq
• Hashemite Aid and Relief Agency
• Islamic Scientific Academy
• Triannual Conferences on the History and Archaeology of Jordan
• The Amman Baccalaureate School
• The Al-Hassan Youth Award

Founded the:

• Royal Scientific Society (1970)
• Annual Bilad Al-Sham Conference (1978)
• Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (1980)

Honorary degrees and doctorates

• Honorary Degree of Science, Boğaziçi University, Turkey (1981)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law, Durham University, U.K. (1990)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, U.S.A (1995)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland (1996)
• Honorary Doctorate, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia (1997)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Birmingham, U.K. (1999)
• Honorary Doctorate, Bilkent University, Turkey (1999)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (Hon LLB), University of Hertfordshire, U.K. (2000)
• Honorary Doctorate of Theology, University of Tübingen, Germany (2001)
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Oklahoma, U.S.A. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate, University of York, U.K. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Portsmouth, U.K. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan (2005)
• Honorary Degree of LLD Honoris Causa, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, U.K. (2005)
• Honorary Degree and the Medal of the World Academy, Old Dominion University, U.S.A (2005)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Universidade Cândido Mendes (UCAM), Brazil (2006)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Institute of Higher Education of Brasilia (IESB), Brazil (2006)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas (FMU), Brazil (2006)
• Honorary Degree in Human Letters, Brandeis University, U.S.A (2006)
• Honorary Degree, Soka University, Japan (2006)
• Honorary Doctorate, the Faculty of Humanities, University of Lund, Sweden (2007).
• Doctorate Honoris Causa Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary (2007).
• Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2008)

Publications

• To Be A Muslim: Islam, Peace, and Democracy, Alain Elkann coauthor, Sussex Academic Press, Handcover, December 2003, (96 pages), ISBN 1-903900-81-6.
• Christianity in the Arab World, SCM Press with Foreword by HRH the Prince of Wales, 1995, (120 pages), ISBN 0-8264-1094-4.
• Palestinian Self-Determination: A Study of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Quartet Books, New York 1981, ISBN 0-7043-2312-5.

Abraham Geiger Award

The 2008 Abraham Geiger Award was conferred upon HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, as a voice for global sustainability, reconciliation and interreligious understanding. HRH received the 2008 Abraham Geiger Award in commemoration of the liberal thinker of Judaism, Abraham Geiger (1810–1874). The award ceremony was held in Berlin on 4 March 2008. Prince Hassan follows in the footsteps of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Alfred Grosser, Emil Fackenheim and Susannah Heschel, past recipients of the Award.^[7]

"Honouring the President Emeritus of the World Conference of Religions for Peace underlines Prince Hassan's courage in defending pluralism, promoting understanding among different cultures and enhancing dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The Prince's efforts to promote understanding between the Islamic and Western Worlds are crucial at a time when we seem to be drifting apart, with perceived differences appearing to overwhelm the many things we have in common, both culturally and religiously."^[7]

Awards and Prizes

• The Abu Bakr Al-Siddique Medal of the Organisation of Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies - September 1996.
• The 1995 Science and Society Prize in Madrid.
• The inaugural Gandhi/King/Ikeda Community Builders Medal and Torch of Nonviolence - April 2001.
• The Distinguished Foreign Visitor Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston - April 2002.
• The 2003 Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Award for the Advancement of Inter-religious Understanding - June 2003.
• The Abraham Fund Pioneer of Co-existence Award (New York) - January 2004.
• The Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash (1st Class), for his services to the Republic of Austria - October 2004.
• The 2005 Eternal Flame Award by the Annual Scholars’ Conference of the U.S.
• The Calgary Peace Prize - 2007.
• A medal to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the adoption of UNESCO’s Constitution, at the inaugural meeting of the Tolerance Foundation held at the Yusupov Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia - May 2007.
• The 2008 Abraham Geiger Award for Peace.
• The Niwano Peace Prize in Japan - May 2008.
• The Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani medallion - Iqbal Academy, UK - 2008.
• The Peace Prize of the City of Augsburg - Germany - 2008.

Notes

External links

• Prince Hassan's Official Website
• Picture of Prince Hassan (taken from the BBC)
• The Estimate - Jordan's Stunning Change: The Shift in Hashemite Succession
• Profile on PRDU website
• Interview with Prince Hassan on CBC Radio's As It Happens (February 2, 2011)
• Abraham Geiger College - Abraham Geiger Award 2008 goes to HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (02.11.2007)