The Jordanian Ministry of Magic

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5), the Ministry of Magic stations Dolores Umbridge at the Hogwarts School for Wizardry and Magic to regain control over the school. The reason for this is that the school has supposedly gone astray under the leadership of Professor Albus Dumbledore. Umbridge, who gets the position of High Inquisitor, imposes new rules on the young sorcerers, severely restricting their freedom. Her decree no. 45 imposes “proper dress”, another one allows Umbridge to confiscate unauthorized books, while yet another enables her to intervene in the professors’ appointments and dismissals.

Déjà-vu

As I wrote my PhD-thesis on the religious policies of the Jordanian regime and watched Harry Potter 5, I had a sudden feeling of déjà-vu when Dolores Umbridge declared a series of new decrees and the wall of Hogwarts’ hall got covered by the new rules under the eyes of stupefied students. The parallel with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs struck me. In Jordan, the Ministry of Awqaf has regulated religious affairs in the country since 1967 and has grown increasingly powerful over the years, as the regime attempted to gain control over the religious actors forming the Jordanian religious field (read: “over Dumbledore and his followers”).

While writing this blogpost, I realised that even some of the decrees of Dolores Umbridge seem to partially match the regulations of the Ministry of Awqaf. In the last few years, the Jordanian Ministry has formed a council to review all the teachers involved in teaching religious materials in Jordan and grant them licenses if they are deemed suitable for this role, paralleling the Ministry of Magic’s involvement in Hogwarts’ professorships. The Ministry of Awqaf also replaced undesirable professors (for instance, politicised ones) by others more aligned with the strategy of the Ministry, mirroring the Ministry for Magic’s attempts to sideline the wizards who warned about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Parallels

Indeed, as in Harry Potter’s world, dissent has become increasingly dangerous in Jordan, where speaking out against the political interests of the state can cost you your professional position. Eventually, while educational decree no. 128 forbade the existence of any student organisation not approved by the High Inquisitor, the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf established a system of authorisations for all the Islamic organisations in the country, subject to the licensing of its Directorate for Islamic Associations and Centres since 2020.

These are but a few parallels and they only illustrate some aspects of the increasing intervention of an authoritarian regime in its country’s religious field. The final outcomes also differ in the two examples. In the film, Fred and George Weasley, the twin brothers of Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley, end up pursuing Umbridge in a chase that causes all the frames containing the educational decrees to fall and shatter on the floor of Hogwarts’ hallway, to the greatest happiness of the school’s young wizards.

Unfortunately, the parallel with Jordan might need to be abandoned at this stage, as the “frames” of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf seem to be closely attached to its walls. Moreover, no religious actor in Jordan seems to be strong enough to take on the role of the Weasleys and cause the cancellation or revision of the rules of a regime that clearly has the upper hand.

Astrid Bourlond is a PhD-candidate in Islamic and Arabic Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Utrecht University, specialising in the religious policies of the Jordanian regime. Image: Getty Images, Murray Close, https://www.gettyimages.nl/detail/nieuwsfoto%27s/actors-david-bradley-and-imelda-staunton-on-the-set-of-nieuwsfotos/2179332736?adppopup=true.