Queen Rania of Jordan

(planetrulers.com)

“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in the enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good” (Vaclav Havel). Hope is having the expectation that something good will transpire and striving to make it happen. When one has hope, they work hard to see good emerge. Queen Rania of Jordan has hope for a bright, peaceful future and works vehemently to make it happen. She was married into royalty when she married King Abdullah II. Their marriage symbolizes hope to many Jordanians because of their clashing heritages (Ryan). She uses her education in business and administration she received from the American University in Cairo (Hinds) to help her establish organizations that bring safety, equality, and peace to the world. As a humanitarian, she immerses herself in several organizations that help children and women, such as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Jordan River Foundation (JRF). Queen Rania of Jordan is a hero not only because she perseveres through life’s challenges and utilizes her authority to back her honorable morals, she inspires Muslim women around the world to live in freedom and confidence.

(facebook.com)

Queen Rania has persevered to make her life and the lives of others better by defeating obstacles thrown in her way. Rania didn’t let the hostilities of the Persian Gulf War in her country prevent her from being successful and achieving her goals (“Al-Abdullah, Rania”). She “graduated from American University in 1991, she could not return to Kuwait. A year earlier… her family had been forced to flee to Jordan. She followed them to Jordan’s capital, Amman, and found a job with Citibank there” (“Al-Abdullah, Rania”). She had the determination and focus even though it was so hard to possess in troubling times. Queen Rania’s perseverance tells us she wanted a promising future for herself and didn’t let anything obstruct her goals. Her perseverance and hard work for a bright future show she is able to conquer outside forces and put her struggles aside so that she can accomplish her goals. She also strives to help and protect children from their misfortunes, such as child-abuse. She is an “advocate for children, and even before becoming queen [she] made child-abuse prevention a priority” (Al-Abdullah, Rania”). Her perseverance is shown by the immense amount of time she has devoted to this cause. Her commitment towards stopping child-abuse is evidence she wants children to be safe, happy, and loved. Her perseverance shows she deeply cares about the well-being of others, as well as herself, and will put her thoughts into actions to protect her people.

Queen Rania encourages education in South Africa (royaltyinthenews.com)

Queen Rania’s morals can be seen in the organizations she is involved in and has founded that try to solve issues not only in her country, but also in the world. She was appointed head of Royal Commission on Human Rights by King Abdullah (“Al-Abdullah, Rania) and has become an influential part in many prominent organizations; she is “UNICEF’s Eminent Advocate for Children” (“Borders® Welcomes Queen Rania) and “she sits on the board of directors of the Vaccine Fund, established the Jordan River Foundation to provide small-business loans for folk artisans living in some of the country's poorest villages, and has worked with education authorities to ensure that every schoolchild in Jordan has access to a computer” (Al-Abdullah, Rania”). Rania’s involvement in these humanitarian organizations show her concern for the safety of others because she has engrossed herself to help others accomplish their goals, be successful, and be safe. When Rania was asked about suicide bombers she said, “‘Palestinians have to have the moral courage to say killing civilians isn't right,’ she asserted to Times of London journalist Daniel McGrory. ‘Both sides see themselves as victims, and when you feel victimised it justifies anything you do, no matter how crazy or out of control it is, so you think it's OK to bomb innocent civilians and it's OK to invade towns and cities’” (“Al-Abdullah, Rania”). This is interesting because she gives insight to not only how the civilians feel, but also how the bombers feel. Despite the fact she knows how the bombers view themselves, she doesn’t side with or defend them; she states that it is not right to kill innocent civilians. She is fair in the way she considers how both groups feel. Queen Rania’s morals set an example on how we should treat people and consider the different viewpoints within a society.

(www.jordanriver.jo)

Queen Rania inspires Muslim women by endowing them hope and a voice. Queen Rania gives Jordanian women hope for a freedom. “Rania has also joined other Jordanian women and human-rights activists in calling for an end to the so-called "honor killings" in the nation of five million” (“Al-Abdullah, Rania). She endows Jordanian women a sense of hope by extinguishing their fear of being murdered because of an accusation of committing adultery. The worry of not knowing if they will executed causes a heavy burden on the women; Queen Rania’s activism renders a sense of freedom by lifting that burden. Queen Rania once said, " ‘I am an Arab through and through, but I am also one who speaks the international language… I feel I do represent a large segment of women in the Arab world... I share with them their hopes and aspirations and the challenges they face’" (Al-Abdullah, Rania). She truly does represent Muslim women. “She does not wear the traditional headscarf common or even required by law in some quarters of the Muslim world. ‘I pray five times a day, I fast, I do all the things that my religion requires me to do,’ she said in the in Harper's Bazaar interview with DePaulo. ‘But, you know, maybe one day I will wear the veil--I don't rule it out’” (Al-Abdullah, Rania). Her outspokenness and modern approach to a traditional world provide the chance for Muslim women to voice their opinions on not wearing the veil. By her speaking out, it gives voice to Muslim women who don’t want to wear the veil, but feel pressure to do so; when in actuality, not wearing the veil doesn’t make them a lesser Muslim, as long as they abide the core values of Islam. Rania confers them with hope for a freer future. Queen Rania not only inspires Muslim women by giving them hope of a free world and future, she also gives hope of a more promising future to children. Her perseverance shows that with hard work and hope, we can overcome obstacles and achieve great things. Her willingness to unify others reveals her honorable morals. Queen Rania possesses the important values of a hero: the perseverance and morals to make a change in the world.