Hussein bin Talal, King of Jordan (حسين بن طلال, Ḥusayn bin Ṭalāl) (November 14, 1935 – February 7, 1999) was the ruler of Jordan since his father, King Talal, abdicated in 1952, until his death. Hussein guided his country through the volatile Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict, successfully balancing the pressures of Arab nationalism and the allure of Western-style development against the stark reality of Jordan's geographic location.

Hussein's family claims a line of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. "We are the family of the prophet and we are the oldest tribe in the Arab world," the king once said of his Hashemite ancestry.