Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
Since it was established, the Kingdom of Jordan has been ruled by the Hashemite dynasty, which originally hailed from Makkah and claim to be direct descendants of the Prophet Mohammed. In 1948, Jordan (then called Transjordan) seized East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the first Arab Israeli War. It lost those territories to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. As a result of both conflicts, Jordan took in hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, who now constitute much of the Jordanian population. Only a minority of Jordanians belong to traditional Bedouin groups who have lived for centuries in the area. In 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, which confirms the Jordanian king’s rights as Custodian of the Holy Places in East Jerusalem.
Relations between Sunni Muslims and Christians in Jordan are generally peaceful. The Christian community has praised Jordan’s royal family for fostering a spirit of tolerance. The Catholic Church is present with parishes and institutions such as Caritas Jordan. The country has also welcomed Christian and Hindu migrant workers, mainly from Asia, temporarily living and working in the country.
According to Article 2 of the Jordanian constitution of 1952, “Islam is the religion of the State”. Article 6 states that, “Jordanians shall be equal before the law with no discrimination between them in rights and duties even if they differ in race, language or religion.” Article 14 obliges the state to “safeguard the free exercise of the rites of religions and creeds in accordance with the customs observed in the Kingdom, if such is not inconsistent with public order or morality.” Under Article 28e, “It is a condition for the person who shall ascend the Throne to be a Moslem, […] and of Moslem parents.”
Article 99 establishes civil, religious, and special courts. Article 104 divides religious courts into Shari’a courts and the tribunals of other religious communities. All matters related to the personal status of Muslims are regulated by Shari‘a (Islamic law). Christians are subject to their own ecclesiastical courts. Civil marriage does not exist. A Muslim woman cannot marry a Christian man. If a Christian woman converts to Islam, her Christian husband must convert too if they want to remain married; otherwise, they are automatically divorced.
The constitution and other relevant laws do not explicitly ban Muslims from converting to another faith, and there are no penalties under civil law for doing so. Nonetheless, by giving primacy to Shari‘a, which prohibits Muslims from converting to another religion, the government effectively prohibits both conversion from Islam and proselytising Muslims by members of other religions. According to Islamic law, there are consequences for Muslims when they adopt a religion other than Islam. For instance, if someone is convicted of apostasy the Islamic courts adjudicating matters of personal status have the power to void the person’s marriage and deny their right to inherit from their spouse and Muslim relatives.
Jordan explicitly criminalises blasphemy. Article 273 of Jordan’s Penal Code of 1960 states that any individual who insults any of the prophets is liable for a term of imprisonment of one to three years.
Christians have nine seats in Jordan’s parliament and have access to higher office in the Jordanian government and Armed Forces. The proportion of Christians in the country has been declining for half a century with the figure now around 1.3 percent of the population, down from 20 percent in 1930.
The 2014 Law for Councils of Christian Denominations officially recognises 11 Christian denominations. They are the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic (Melkite), Armenian Orthodox, Maronite Catholic, Assyrian, Coptic, Anglican, Lutheran, Seventh-day Adventist and United Pentecostal Churches. Some Churches were recognised in 2018 as “associations”, namely the Free Evangelical Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Assemblies of God, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the Baptist Church. Jehovah’s Witnesses are one of the still unrecognised denominations, but such groups have been able to practice their faith, manage schools, and operate health facilities without hindrance. Chaldean and Syrian Christians among Iraqi refugees are referred to as “guests” by the government.
Incidents and developments
In January 2021, Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa visited Jordan for the first time since his appointment as leader of the Latin Church in the Holy Land. The Patriarch headed the traditional pilgrimage to the Baptism Site of Jesus on the River Jordan in the presence of the Secretary General of the Jordan Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Imad Hijazin. The day after, the Patriarch was received by King Abdullah II. During the virtual meeting, the king praised Jordan’s deep-rooted ties with Pope Francis and the Holy See.
In January, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Christophoros Atallah, in a letter to the country's Judicial Council, called Evangelical Churches “a danger” to society. He demanded that the status of members of non-recognised Evangelical Churches be referred to the Council of Church Leaders, a government advisory body, instead of civil courts. In February 2021, in response to the archbishop’s letter, the head of Jordan’s Judicial Council issued a memo disqualifying any Christian without an approved ecclesiastical court from using the civil courts. Cases would instead be referred to the Council of Church Leaders as demanded by Archbishop Atallah. According to lawyers, this was a violation of a 2014 law that updated the religious court system. In March 2021, the Judicial Council retracted its order.
In May, Jordanian MPs made insulting statements toward Jews and Judaism. During a session of parliament, MP Safaa Al-Momani called Jews “the slayers of prophets” while another MP, Salamah al-Bluwi, described Israeli Jews as “criminal Zionists, sons of apes and pigs”.
In July, the resignation of Wafa Al-Khadra from membership in the Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System was accepted. Earlier her comments on sacrifice practices during Aid-al-Adha as lacking mercy provoked outrage in social media. Al-Khadra stated that she was facing six charges in court.
In July, Zaid O. Nabulsi, a Jordanian lawyer and political activist, started a debate about opening the country to Shiite pilgrims, who have been long discouraged from visiting the tombs of the relatives of the Prophet Muhammad. Most prominent is the tomb of Ja’far al Tayyar, the cousin and companion of Muhammad and brother of Ali, the first Shiite leader, in Mazar in the region of Karak. According to Nabulsi, it would help to foster religious tourism in Jordan, but his proposal was rejected. “We don’t have a position against any tourist visiting Jordan from anywhere in the world, but this kind of religious tourism is not our priority,” Nayef al Fayez, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, told Religion News Service.
In August, the Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa appointed Bishop Jamal Khader Daibes as the Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan.
In September, a conference titled “Media Against Hate” took place in Amman. It was organised by the Media Department of the Muslim Council of Elders in collaboration with the Catholic Centre for Research and Media. The closing statement recognised the bodies “share many common goals as our shared belief in the role the media can play in promoting the values of tolerance, coexistence and peace along with countering hate, racism and discrimination and shaping public opinion towards stability, growth and social cohesion”. The conference was held under the patronage of Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad.
In October, an article claimed that Baha’i spouses of Jordanians were not eligible for naturalisation. The negative ramifications on both the private and work life of the women were numerous. Jordan does not recognise the Baha’i faith.
In November, the International Appeal for the Protection of Holy Places, an Islamic-Christian global network supported by Jordanian Prince Hassan bin Talal, appealed for an end to the “use and abuse of religions as a pretext for violence, exclusion and discrimination”. The text “signed by more than 40 Muslim and Christian supporters” [...] “including senior members of the Middle Eastern community” called “deadly attacks on people in prayer or while worshiping the ‘summit’ of atrocities and violence with regards to religious issues”.
In November, Jordan’s Crown Prince Al-Hussein met with Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria in Cairo. The Crown Prince toured an exhibition held at the cathedral arranged by Jordan’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) to promote religious tourism in the Kingdom.
In December, King Abdullah II bestowed an Order on the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III in appreciation of the Patriarchate’s historical and religious role in preserving holy places, consolidating the Christian presence, and representing the Hashemite Custodianship.
In December 2021, the Director of Public Security, Major General Hussein Al-Hawatmeh, ordered an increase of the security deployment at churches during the Christian holidays in Christian areas.
In February 2022, it was announced that King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania would receive the “Zayed Award for Human Fraternity” in recognition of their instrumental role in promoting interfaith dialogue across the Middle East region. The award was granted by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, an independent international committee, instituted to fulfil the aspirations of the Document on Human Fraternity, signed in February 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Iman Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi.
In April, King Abdullah II reaffirmed the historic responsibility of the Jordanian royal family for the protection of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
In May, on Jordan’s 76th Independence Day, different Churches renewed their certificates of loyalty to the Hashemite Dynasty.
In May, the Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court, Yousef al-Isawi, participated on behalf of King Abdullah II at the inaugural Mass of Bishop Jamal Daibes, the new Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan.
In May, King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania received the 2022 “Path to Peace Award” for their role in promoting interfaith harmony and dialogue. The award was presented at a ceremony in New York City. The president of the Path to Peace Foundation, Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said that the king’s recommitment to protecting the sacred places of the Holy Land shows that he regards Christians as an integral part of the history and cultural fabric of the Arab World and the Middle East. While in New York, the king met with representatives of the American Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches to discuss the situation in the Holy Land. According to reports, he also met with affiliates of some Evangelical Christian groups who have been seeking full recognition in Jordan.
In July, Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans in Iraq, laid the foundation stone of St. Thomas in Amman, the first Chaldean Church in Jordan. Patriarch Sako called on the Jordanian government to recognise the Chaldean Church as one of the official churches. Jordan has received many Chaldean Christians from Iraq as refugees, referring to them as “guests”.
In September, King Abdullah II said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly that “Christianity in the holy city is under fire. The rights of Churches in Jerusalem are threatened. This cannot continue”.
In November 2022, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania were received by Pope Francis at the Vatican. The leaders observed “appreciation for the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the Hashemite Kingdom” and discussed the need to: “preserve and encourage the Christian presence” in the Middle East; to “continue to develop interreligious and ecumenical dialogue”; to promote “stability and peace in the Middle East – especially concerning “the Palestinian question and the issue of refugees” and, to “preserve the status quo in the Holy Places in Jerusalem”.
Prospects for freedom of religion
Jordan continues to be a Muslim state granting freedom of worship to most of its citizens although the full right to religious freedom does not exist, and the social pressure on individuals choosing to leave Islam is relentless. Registered Churches act freely within the boundaries imposed by law and a conservative Muslim society. The situation is more challenging for non-registered communities like the Baha’is. Individual members of such communities face multiple difficulties regarding their personal status. Antisemitism is still a concern as evidenced by statements of some politicians.
King Abdullah II is highly praised as a champion of interreligious dialogue and coexistence between Muslims and Christians. Christian leaders acknowledge and encourage the king’s role as guardian of Muslim and Christian Holy places in Jerusalem.
Overall, the situation of religious freedom during the period under review remained unchanged. Although freedom of worship for most Jordanians is guaranteed within known limits, there are no indications for a substantial improvement towards full religious liberty. The situation remains unchanged with no challenges on the horizon.
Jordan