Talal bin Abdullah bin Al Hussein, the second king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Talal bin Abdullah bin Al-Hussein Al-Hashemi (January 8, 1909 – July 7, 1972), the second King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, took power from (July 20, 1951 to August 11, 1952). He also assumed the throne on March 17, 1947, when King Abdullah I issued a decision appointing him as crown prince.

He was born in 1909 in Makkah Al Mukarramah. He is the eldest son of King Abdullah bin Al Hussein, founder of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the first of its kings, who had five sons: (Talal, Nayef, Haya, Munira and Maqbola). He received his basic education in Amman, while he completed it abroad at Sandhurst Military College in Britain, and graduated with the rank of lieutenant, then joined the service of his grandfather Sharif Hussein bin Ali when he was in Cyprus and returned with him to Amman, and after the death of his grandfather Prince Talal traveled to Iraq, and joined the Iraqi army Then he returned to Oman and completed his military training in the Border Force.

King Talal assumed power after his father was shot dead in Jerusalem. Despite the short period of his rule, which lasted for a year, he achieved many accomplishments, the most important of which was the issuance of the 1952 Constitution, which replaced the Basic Law that was in force in the Emirate of Transjordan. Jordan and the Arab world, and had a great impact on the educational renaissance that the country witnessed later, as the railway law was issued in 1952, which stipulates that this line be considered an Islamic endowment, and the Jordanian Coast Guard force was formed in the Gulf of Aqaba. King Talal worked to consolidate Jordan’s relations with Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt, and had a prominent role in signing the “Arab Collective Security” agreement.

King Talal is one of the members of the Hashemite dynasty that has ruled Jordan since 1921, and its members still inherit power in the name of the nobility of Mecca. He is in the forty-first generation of the Prophet Muhammad from his daughter Fatimah al-Zahra and her husband Ali bin Abi Talib through their son Al-Hassan bin Ali.

Prince Talal married Zain Al Sharaf, daughter of Sharif Jamil bin Nasser bin Ali, and had four children: King Hussein, the third king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Prince Muhammad, Prince Hassan, and Princess Basma.

The Jordanian parliament dismissed him and abdicated the throne due to a mental illness said to be (schizophrenia), and traveled to Geneva to receive treatment. The Jordanian National Assembly met and formed the Hashemite Regency Council, and his half-brother, Prince Nayef, was called to take the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan due to the severity of his illness. He spent the rest of his life in a sanatorium in Istanbul and died there and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hussein bin Talal.

his childhood

King Talal bin Abdullah was born in Mecca on January 8, 1909.
He was raised by his father, King Abdullah I, founder of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and his grandfather, Hussein bin Ali, the leader of the Great Arab Revolt. His father described him by saying: “Talal is the firstborn of the children, the pawn of the pamper, his present is bright, and his future with the care of God is brilliant, and he is for work and for the future of time is hope.” He was appointed to accompany his father with the rank of honorary lieutenant. Since his childhood, he showed a passion for reading historical books and biographies.

Military service

In 1942, he joined the 2nd Infantry Battalion, one of the battalions of the Jordanian Arab Army, and contributed to its training and development. He also made great efforts in developing the Armed Vehicles Brigade, which consisted of three battalions in Azraq in 1943, and participated in most of the military maneuvers and exercises carried out by those battalions. He had a special interest in artillery, and took care of military training books.

When the war began in Palestine in 1948, Prince Talal moved to Ramallah and took a forward position with an artillery battery that supported the units attacking the Zionist sites in Jerusalem. He spent a great deal of time on the front lines urging soldiers and officers to fight and to hold their positions. He also participated in the battle of (Gesher) at the village of Jisr Al-Majam’; He was the first to come to the battlefield. As for the battles he fought in Jerusalem, remarkable victories were achieved, as a result of which the Jordanian Arab army was able to control the Sheikh Jarrah area, Bab al-Amud area, Radar Hill and other sites.

King Talal was known for his extreme hatred of the English. He was a jealous patriot. Like his father, King Abdullah I, he sought to rid the country of British influence, who had expressed his strong hatred for the English in an interview he gave a few months before his assassination on July 20, 1951; King Abdullah says:

“O God! Is it possible for me to love the English, or to support their policy, unless I am prepared to erase the history of my father, forget the tragedies of my family, and pardon their treachery with each one of us? The dispute between me and them is big and vast… They have a concept of Jordan’s role in the region, while I have my own concept of this role. Jordan’s message in my dictionary is different from Jordan’s message in their dictionary. I want Jordan as a starting point to achieve what my father and brothers failed to achieve, and they want Jordan Just a sheikhdom or a state or a protectorate, however, I have nothing but the trick with them, and I have no power over them, they spend on the army, my country is poor, and the treaty restricts my steps, and the Jews are on my borders. My message and what I inherited from the messages of my family and clan, and between my obligations towards the English and my situation in a country with limited capabilities? Am I the one who loves the English? Neither my culture is part of their culture, nor my history is part of their history, nor my language is part of their language. Would my pride as a king please see the English ambassador next to my house on this mountain where I live, so that his presence reminds me of the restrictions of the occupation in my country?”

King Talal’s Achievements:
Multiple in this year and greatly influential in the lives of the people, as he sought to develop the country and ascend it to the heights of independence and freedom, and make it enjoy free education and eliminated racism in worship. Between the twentieth of July 1951 until the eleventh of August 1952, when his reign lasted only one year, as a result of the disease overcoming him.
The development of a modern constitution 1952

The title of King Bin Talal’s order to draft a new constitution for the State of Jordan, in a manner consistent with freedom of opinion and democracy, and the most important contents of the constitution:

That the Kingdom of Jordan is an independent state, where its rule is indivisible, and that the Jordanian people are an integral part of the Arab nation, and no one can oppress or belittle them.

The special system of government within the Hashemite Kingdom has become a representative, hereditary monarchy.
Within a number of rights and freedoms of citizens, the most important of which is that all members of the people are equal before the law, there is no difference between them in meals and imposed on them, and duties, the state guarantees the right to education and work according to its capabilities, and gives freedom of worship and the practice of religious rites, according to some conditions enforced by the state and respectful of customs.

The Prime Minister and his entourage are fully accountable to the House of Representatives.

The judiciary is completely independent, as it is not controlled by anyone but the law.

Free education

King Ibn Talal paid great attention to the issue of education and made it compulsory and free of charge, as he saw that the renaissance of nations begins with their culture and the abundance of their knowledge. Free.

Audit Bureau

He made a law for the Audit Bureau, to be the main tool controlling all government expenditures, in addition to its revenues, for providing a report every year to the House of Representatives regarding violations and errors that occur in the government.

Foreign affairs

He signed an agreement on interconnected Arab defense and economic cooperation, which was defined in 1951 as a collective security agreement, keen to strengthen the roots of Jordanian relations with other Arab countries.

his death
Talal was sent to live the last years of his life in a sanatorium in Istanbul and died there on July 7, 1972. He was buried in the royal tombs at Raghadan Palace in Amman.