By Muath Freij

AMMAN – The lack of Muslim schools in the capital during the 1940s led a group of traders to establish the Islamic Scientific College (ISC).

It all began 65 years ago when a group of merchants from Syria and Nablus decided to form the Islamic Culture Society, Hamdi Tabaa, one of the school’s first students, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

Hassan Mango, whose family donated a piece of land for the school, noted that these merchants used to hold a meeting every Tuesday to discuss the country’s needs.

“Most of the ideas for important projects in the Kingdom, including the school, came up during these deliberations,” added Mango, the chairman of Société Générale bank.

Each trader set aside some of his profits to establish a specific part of the school, which was not only a place of teaching and learning, but also a gathering point for all segments of society, according to the school’s former administrative director, Khamis Ayesh.

“When the ISC opened in 1947 there were 120 students,” noted Tabaa, the chairman of Jordanian Businessmen Association.

He added that His Majesty the late King Hussein was his classmate during the early years of the school, and His Majesty King Abdullah also studied there.

His Majesty King Abdullah I with the school’s founders during its inauguration in 1947 (Photo courtesy of ISC)

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