"It is a misconception to always view Islamic women or Muslim women as repressed." – Queen Rania

On June 9, 1999, people packed the streets of Amman, Jordan, to celebrate a new monarch – King Abdullah, the eldest son of the late King Hussein. At his side was the woman who would govern with him – Rania, the new queen. She intends to rule her kingdom by listening to her people.

"I think I will let the Jordanians lead me," she says. "Their concerns, their needs, that's the direction that I' m going to move in. It's not me trying to say this is where I want to go, it's for them to say where they want to go and for me to be able to help them to get there."

Married nine years ago, Rania Rassin became Rania al Abdullah. The queen is now a mother of three. She's also a business graduate and a former employee of Apple computers.

King Abdullah

Though half of Jordan's university students are women, tradition is still strong in Jordan and often a stumbling block to reform. Economic reform and the financial independence of women are two of Queen Rania's main goals.

"We've seen women who have been able to transform their lives by opening business, by being independent, by taking charge of their lives," she says. "Moving away from the victim mentality of just saying, 'This is my place in life and I can't do anything about it' to really be more pro-active and saying, 'No, no, I can do something. I can educate myself, I can earn a living and I can improve the life of my children.' That's the kind of mentality we want to see emerge."

On women's rights:

"We have to really move beyond the premise of viewing Islam as being anti-women. It is not. Islam really does grant women their rights, their rights to educate themselves, to enter the workplace, to participate in society. These are rights given to women in Islam. It is a misconception to always view Islamic women or Muslim women as repressed."

"That's not to say that we don't have problems and that there is not much more that needs to be done – there is. It's an ongoing process and the more we can have role models for women, the more we can encourage women to move forward and be more active, the better."

Her husband, King Abdullah, supports her and has promised to promote women's rights in Jordan. In December 2001, he signed a royal decree allowing women to file for divorce. Previously, only men could initiate a divorce at will, without reason, and often without even informing their spouse.

On wearing a veil:

Queen Rania rarely wears a veil, though she will wear one when tradition calls, or out of respect for more conservative societies.

"Many woman in Jordan don't wear the veil. We believe in Jordan that we have to give women the choice. It's not a divide between those who do and those who don 't. It's part of our natural way of life and dress code. So maybe for people from the outside looking in it might look like a real distinction, but for us… we don't even notice it anymore."

On the September 11 attacks:

"It's completely against all the teaching of Islam. To try to take such a peaceful religion and distort it in a way and to take their own frustrations and use Islam as a fuel in order to be able to justify such acts, in my opinion is outrageous and should not be accepted.

"Looking at the root causes of the problem is very important because that enables us, that assures us that these problems won't arise again. In many ways, in Afghanistan we're dealing with the actual symptoms of the problem but without getting to the root causes of what happened to make these people do such acts."

Three weeks after September 11, Queen Rania and King Abdullah travelled to New York to express their solidarity with the American people. It was after this visit that President Bush first spoke of recognizing a Palestinian state.

"We all have to realize that the Middle East conflict is the number one concern in our part of the world," says Rania. "It is the number one source of frustration and feeling of injustice and indignation in the Middle East, and until we find a lasting and comprehensive peace in our part of the world, there will be always a feeling of anger."