Christianity in Jordan

Jordan contains one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, their presence dating back to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ early in the 1st century AD. Christians today make up about 3% of the population. Jordanian Christians in a country of almost 10 million are thought to number 250,000-400,000,^[1] down from 20% in 1930, but their absolute numbers have increased.^[2] This is the result of high immigration rate of Muslims into Jordan, high emigration rates of Christians, and high birth rates for Muslims.

Jordan's Arab Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and enjoy a high level of freedom.^[3] All Christian religious ceremonies are allowed to be publicly celebrated in Jordan.^[4] Christians are allotted a minimum of 7% of the seats in the Jordanian parliament (9 out of 130 seats). Jordanian Christians hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank. The highest position reached by a Jordanian Christian is deputy prime minister, most recently held by Rajai Muasher.^[5]

History

A small percentage of Jordanian Christians are Bedouin, the picture shows a Bedouin Christian family from Madaba in 1904

Jordanian Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world,^[6] and the majority have always been Orthodox adherents to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, founded at the day of Pentecost. The Jordanian Orthodox Christians are believed to be around 300,000. Many of them are descended from the Ancient Arab Ghassanid and Lakhmid tribes.

In 629, during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's lifetime, many Jordanian Christians joined Muhammad's army led by his adopted son Zeid ibn Haritha and his cousin Jafar bin Abi Taleb, and fought against the Byzantine army of their fellow Orthodox Christians at the Battle of Mutah in Karak (it is because of this battle that they earned their tribal name "'Uzaizat" which means "the reinforcements"). In 1099, during the First Crusade, some were killed by Crusaders at the Fall of Jerusalem alongside the Muslims.^{[citation needed]}

From 1916–18 during the Great Arab Revolt they fought with the Muslim Arabs against the Ottoman forces; they thereafter languished for a few decades along with their Muslim fellows under a Protestant Colonial Mandate, and in the Israeli Arab Wars of 1948, 1967 and 1968 they fought with Muslim Arabs against Israel. Christian Jordanians have defended Jordan and helped to build Jordan, playing leading roles in the fields of politics, education, health, commerce, tourism, agriculture, science, culture and numerous other fields.

Role in Jordanian society

Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and have a comparatively high level of freedom, though they are not free to evangelize Muslims.^[3] They form a significant part of the kingdom's political and economic elite. Christians enjoy high economic and social opportunities in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan compared to the position of some, but not all, of their co-religionists in the rest of the Middle East. Christians are allotted 9 out of 130 seats in the Jordanian parliament^[5] and also hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank.

Jordanian Christians are allowed by the public and private sectors to leave their work to attend mass on Sundays. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated in Jordan. Christians have established good relations with the royal family and the various Jordanian government officials, and they have their own ecclesiastical courts for matters of personal status. The government has contributed to restoring pilgrimages to the baptismal site of Jesus. Christians involved in Jordanian politics include Deputy Prime Minister Rajai Muasher and ambassador to the U.S. Dina Kawar.^[7]

Jordanian Christians of the evangelical church created the Jordan Evangelical Council in 2006. The most recent elections in September 2019 elected Reverend Habes Nimat as president and Reverend David Rihani as vice president.^[8]

King Abdullah II is an ardent supporter of Arab Christians:^[9]

Let me say once again: Arab Christians are an integral part of my region’s past, present, and future.

Demographics

In 2022 Muslims made up about 97.2% of the country's population, while Christians made up 2.1% of the country's population.^[10] Half of the Christians, or 1.06% of the country's population, were Catholics (115,000 people).^[11] A 2015 study estimated 6,500 Christian believers, from a Muslim background, were in the country (mainly Protestant).^[12] Jordanian Christians number around 250,000, most of whom are ethnically Arab, according to a 2014 estimate by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The study excluded minority Christian groups and the thousands of Iraqi and Syrian Christians residing in Jordan.^[13]

Under sharia law converts from Islam are still considered Muslims;^[10] however, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt the Christian faith, secretly declaring their faith. In effect, they are practising Christians but legally Muslims; thus, the statistics of Jordanian Christians does not include Muslim converts to Christianity. A 2015 study estimates there are some 6,500 Christians from a Muslim background in Jordan.^[14]

Denominations

Group of Iraqi Christians (Assyrians) in an evangelical alliance church, Jabal Amman, 1998.

Ittihad Uniting Church, Jabal Amman.

Among the recognized denominations the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Latin), Melkite Greek Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Maronite Catholic, Anglican, and Syriac Orthodox Church make up the majority of Jordan's Christian population. Also the Lutheran, Coptic Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist, United Pentecostal, Latter-day Saints, and Presbyterian churches are recognized denominations while they make up a much smaller proportion of the Christian population.

In addition to the recognized denominations there are religious societies that are allowed to meet freely, but are not recognized as churches by the government. The recognized religious societies are the Evangelical Free Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Assembly of God, the Baptist Church, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance.^{[citation needed]}

Christian denominations in Jordan belong to four major denominational groups:

Sites

Biblical sites

Jordan is part of the Holy Land and has several biblical attractions that attract pilgrimage and tourist activities. Biblical sites include; Al-Maghtas where Jesus was baptized; Mount Nebo where Moses looked on to the Promised Land; Umm ar-Rasas, a fortified Roman garrison that contains 16 Byzantine churches; Madaba that holds the Madaba Map which is the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land; Machaerus which is a fortified hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed; and Umm Qais (Gadara) where Jesus expelled demons out of a man near the shores of the Sea of Galilee.^[15]

In northern Jordan, there is a small creek where an angel met and wrestled with the patriarch Jacob. The rock struck by Moses to bring forth water and the patriarch Aaron's tomb are both in southern Jordan. The ruins of the fortress of the Ammonites are on a mountain overlooking downtown Amman. This is the site where King David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite killed.

Other sites

There are many Arab and Frankish castles from the period of the Crusades in Jordan, the most famous of which is Ajlun castle located in the Ajloun district in northern Jordan. Other castles include Montreal and Kerak. Fuheis and Al Husn are two predominantly Christian towns of Jordan. The world's oldest built purpose-built church exists in Aqaba.

Institutions

Schools

The National Orthodox School in Amman

There are many Christian schools in Jordan that educate students from both Christian and Muslim families. Some members of the royal family have attended a Christian school for a portion of their education. The Rosary Sister's School is run by the Catholic Church. The Franciscan Sisters School is run by the Franciscans. The National Orthodox School is run by the Eastern Orthodox Church and has received The Cambridge Queen Rania Award multiple times.

The Ahliyyah School for Girls, the Bishop's School for Boys, and the Schneller School are run by the Anglican Church in Amman. There are also a school for the blind, a school for the deaf, and a school for physically handicapped students run by the Anglican church. The Baptist School of Amman is administered by the Baptist church in Jordan and enrolls students of both genders. The Baptist School band has played at many official government occasions.

La Salle Amman is one of the most prestigious schools in Amman founded in 1950. An institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools founded by Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. Along with Our Lady of Nazareth college and Terra Santa college. The Alliance Academy of Jordan a newly founded school in 2014 by the oldest Evangelical community in Jordan the Church & Missionary Alliance, regarded as a state of the art British and American based system school. The latest Chairman of the Board was Vice President of the CMA Rev. Hassan Dababneh.

Hospitals

The first hospital built in Jordan was the "Evangelical Hospital" built in As-Salt by the Church Missionary Society. The Italian Hospital in Amman and in Kerak were started by a Catholic surgeon and are entrusted to the Comboni Missionary Sisters. The Catholic Church runs a maternity hospital and a general hospital in Irbid. The Government Hospital in Ajloun was originally run by Baptists.

The Annoor Sanatorium in Mafraq, which treats tuberculosis and other lung diseases, was founded by a Christian doctor. Several mission clinics were founded across Jordan.

Gallery

Rajai Muasher served as Deputy Prime Minister
Dina Kawar currently serves as Jordan's Ambassador to the United States
Ihsan Haddad is the current captain of the Jordanian national football team
Archbishop Fouad Twal is the Roman Catholic archbishop and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 2008 to 2016.
Ittihad Church, an evangelical alliance and Missionary Church in Jabal Amman
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Rainbow Street
Armenian Apostolic Church, in al-Ashrafiya, Amman