His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday donated JOD500,000 towards the construction of a new building for the Sharia faculty at the University of Jordan (UJ).

King Abdullah's donation was the first after the faculty board gave a go-ahead for donations to build the new JOD8 million facility.

The building, which will be in Islamic architectural style, will house scientific and research projects.

UJ President Dr. Khlaif Tarawneh thanked the King for the donation, which he said “reiterated the leadership's keenness to preserve this pioneering educational institution.”

The university, he added, will do its utmost to provide the required funding to carry out the project, which will comprise a theatre and halls equipped with state-of-the-art technology, as well as administrative and teachers' offices.

In 2011, the Sharia faculty at the university celebrated its 40th anniversary.