Hussein of Jordan was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah II. Hussein was born in Amman on 14 November 1935 to Crown Prince Talal and Princess Zein Al-Sharaf. Hussein was the eldest among his siblings, three brothers and two sistersPrincess Asma, Prince Muhammad, Prince Hassan, Prince Muhsin, and Princess Basma. During one cold Ammani winter, his baby sister Princess Asma died from pneumonia, an indication of how poor his family was thenthey could not afford heating in their house. Hussein was the namesake of his great-grandfather, Hussein bin Ali (Sharif of Mecca), the leader of the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire.
Hussein of Jordan Hussein claimed to be an agnatic descendant of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah and her husband Ali, the fourth caliph, since Hussein belongs to the Hashemite family who have ruled Mecca for over 700 yearsuntil its 1925 conquest by the House of Saudand has ruled Jordan since 1921. The Hashemites, the oldest ruling dynasty in the Muslim world, are the second-oldest-ruling dynasty in the world (after the Imperial House of Japan). The young prince started his elementary education in Amman. He was then educated at Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt. He proceeded to Harrow School in England, where he befriended his second