Ḥussein, in full Ḥussein ibn Ṭalāl, Ḥussein also spelled Ḥusayn, (born November 14, 1935, Amman, Transjordan [now Jordan]-died February 7, 1999, Amman, Jordan), king of Jordan from 1953 to 1999 and a member of the Hāshimite dynasty, considered by many Muslims to be among the Ahl al-Bayt ('People of the House,' the direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad) and the traditional guardians of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. His reign marked the shaping of the modern kingdom of Jordan, and his policies greatly increased the Jordanian standard of living. Following the July 1951 assassination of Ḥussein’s grandfather King ʿAbdullāh in Jerusalem, his father Ṭalāl, ascended to the throne but was in 1952 declared unfit to rule by parliament owing to mental illness. King Ṭalāl abdicated in favour of Ḥussein, who after spending some months at Sandhurst Royal Military College in England, assumed full constitutional powers on May 2, 1953. Ḥussein’s policies fostered slow but steady economic progress, though he was forced to depend on significant financial aid from the West. Ḥussein’s base of support was his country’s indigenous Bedouin tribesmen, with whom he fostered close personal ties.