Editing Islam in Jordan (section)

==Islamic Revival 1980s onward==
The 1980s witnessed a stronger and more visible adherence to Islamic customs and beliefs among significant segments of the population.<ref name=":0" /> The increased interest in incorporating Islam more fully into daily life was expressed in a variety of ways.<ref name=":0" /> Women wearing conservative Islamic dress and the headscarf were seen with greater frequency in the streets of urban as well as rural areas; men with beards also were more often seen.<ref name=":0" /> Attendance at Friday prayers rose, as did the number of people observing [[Ramadan]].<ref name=":0" />

Women in the 1980s, particularly university students, were actively involved in expressions of Islamic revival.<ref name=":0" /> Women wearing Islamic garb were a common sight at the country's universities.<ref name=":0" /> For example, the mosque at [[Yarmouk University]] had a large women's section.<ref name=":0" /> The section was usually full, and women there formed groups to study Islam.<ref name=":0" /> By and large, women and girls who adopted Islamic dress apparently did so of their own volition, although it was not unusual for men to insist that their sisters, wives, and daughters cover their hair in public.<ref name=":0" />

The adoption of the Islamic form of dress did not signify a return to segregation of the sexes or female seclusion.<ref name=":0" /> Indeed, women who adopted Islamic clothing often were working women and students who interacted daily with men.<ref name=":0" /> They cited a lag in cultural attitudes as part of the reason for donning such dress.<ref name=":0" /> In other words, when dressed in Islamic garb they felt that they received more respect from and were taken more seriously by their fellow students and colleagues.<ref name=":0" /> Women also could move more readily in public if they were modestly attired.<ref name=":0" /> The increased religious observance also accounted for women's new style of dress.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1980s, Islamic dress did not indicate social status, particularly wealth, as it had in the past; Islamic dress was being worn by women of all classes, especially the lower and middle classes.<ref name=":0" />

Several factors gave rise to increased adherence to Islamic practices.<ref name=":0" /> During the 1970s and 1980s, the [[Middle East]] region saw a rise of Islamism in response to the economic recession and to the failure of nationalist politics to solve regional problems.<ref name=":0" /> In this context, Islam was an idiom for expressing social discontent.<ref name=":0" /> In Jordan, opposition politics had long been forbidden, and since the 1950s the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] had been the only legal political party.<ref name=":0" /> These factors were exacerbated by [[King Hussein]]'s public support for the shah of Iran in his confrontation with [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] and the forces of opposition, by continued relations with Egypt in the wake of the 1979 [[Camp David Accords (1978)|Treaty of Peace Between Egypt and Israel]], and by the king's support for [[Iraq]] in the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name=":0" />

Although Islamic opposition politics never became as widespread in Jordan as in [[Iran]] and [[Egypt]], they were pervasive enough for the regime to act swiftly to bring them under its supervision.<ref name=":0" /> By the close of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, government-controlled television regularly showed the king and his brother Hasan attending Friday prayers.<ref name=":0" /> The media granted more time to religious programs and broadcasts.<ref name=":0" /> Aware that the Islamic movement might become a vehicle for expressing opposition to the regime and its policies, and in a move to repair relations with [[Syria]], in the mid-1980s the government began to promote a moderate form of Islam, denouncing fanatical and intolerant forms.<ref name=":0" />