The role of Christians, according to the views of “Al-Bakhit”

The participants in the memorial service for "Pasha" Ma'rouf Al-Bakhit, which marks the first anniversary of his passing away, have mapped out a wonderful national impression, as the Royal Cultural Center became a miniature image of the great homeland in the solemn presence of motley of society members. They all came to express recognition of Dr. Abu Suleiman, who served Jordan with affiliation, devotion, and with a great spirit of belonging and loyalty to the Hashemite Throne, as he always showed openness to dialogue with everybody, while keeping the interests of the great homeland above all considerations.

On that evening, we listened to noble addresses which shed light on two things, namely Al-Bakhit's personality which is associated with seriousness and modesty, and the great achievements he made during his period of service whether in his military, educational, or governmental field.

I need not reiterate what was expressed, but I would like to highlight something that was not said explicitly at the memorial service, as it is present in more than one place in the book distributed on that day and titled, “Ma’rouf Al-Bakhit, Thought and Strategy,” which was prepared by his daughter Dr. Suzanne Ma’rouf Al-Bakhit who personally supervised the solemn memorial service.

The first pages of this book contain a lecture by Dr. Al-Bakhit marking Independence Day 2017 in which he enumerates the most prominent components of the Jordanian national character, which played a pivotal role in the battles of construction and independence, and in the heroic defence of national sovereignty, namely Jordan’s identity and capabilities. I personally wrote an article about this matter based on Bakhit’s lecture in Al Rai daily on 7 July 2017 titled, “Jordanian Christians: The Percentage has Decreased, but not the Attendance.” His Excellency called me on that day, thanking me and confirming that "the Jordanian unity between Christians and Muslims, in this dear country, is historic and nonpareil in the world."

After several references to Jordan's strength such as the  Jordanian social structure, traditions, social education, the historic state of emergency, he states that there are two institutions that contributed to the completion of the maturity of the contemporary Jordanian personality, namely the military institution and the Jordanian educational institution. He touches on the essence of my talk today, namely an accurate description of the state of religious harmony that snowballed into societal harmony. His Excellency Dr. Al-Bakhit says: “There is an important factor that must be discussed here with pride and honor namely, the advanced and fundamental role of Christian Jordanians in the battles of enlightenment, construction, and national struggle, as wellas in defending the country’s identity and independence. This Jordanian society was formed of Jordanian Christians and Muslims, who merged together in one personality and integrated system, and they were always a model of brotherhood. They jointly transcended the issue of coexistence, whereby Jordanian Christians and Muslims are the new generation of united tribal systems, which over the past two centuries have fought the battle of construction, development, production, and defence of agricultural trade unions, and established villages and cities during the 19th century. Jordanian Christians also played a major and pioneering role in the field of education and combating illiteracy, and later in the field of preserving and protecting heritage. During the time of the establishment of the Emirate, they were pioneers in public administration, in partisan opposition, in journalism, in art, and in establishing the Jordanian civil state.”

May God preserve Jordan and always provide us with those who can support the Jordanian procession with abundant benevolence in order to preserve the nation’s achievements associated with a precious national unity that looks to the future with great optimism. May God have mercy on His Excellency Pasha Al-Bakhit. He is a unique personality who will remain present in the hearts of his small family and of the extended Jordanian family.