Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

"OIC" redirects here. For other uses, see OIC (disambiguation).

Organisation of the Islamic Conference منظمة المؤتمر الإسلامي Template:Ar icon Organisation de la Conférence Islamique Template:Fr icon
Flag of Organisation of the Islamic Conference منظمة المؤتمر الإسلامي Template:Ar icon Organisation de la Conférence Islamique Template:Fr icon Flag
Map of OIC member states (green) and observers (blue).
Headquarters	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Official languages	Arabic, English, French
Membership	57 member states
Leaders
• Secretary-General	Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu
•	September 25 1969
Website http://www.oic-oci.org/

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an international organization with a permanent delegation to the United Nations. It groups 57 nations, most of which are Islamic, from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Balkan, Southeast Asia, South Asia and South America. The official languages of the organization are Arabic, English and French.

History and goals

The primary goals of the OIC are, according to its Status, "to promote solidarity among all Islamic member states."

The OIC was set up in Rabat, Morocco, on September 25, 1969 in reaction to an arson attack against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on August 21, 1969.

The flag of the OIC (shown above) has an overall green background (symbolic of Islam). In the center, there is an upward-facing red crescent enveloped in a white disc. On the disc the words "Allahu Akbar" are written in modern Arabic calligraphy.

On August 5, 1990, 45 foreign ministers of the OIC adopted the controversial Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam to serve as a guidance for the member states in the matters of human rights.

Recent issues

The Parliamentary Union of the OIC member states (PUOICM) was established in Iran in 1999 and its head office is situated in Tehran. Only OIC members are entitled to membership in the union.[1]

President George W. Bush announced on June 27 2007 that the United States will establish an envoy to the OIC. Bush said of the envoy "Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives from Muslim states, and will share with them America's views and values."[2] Sada Cumber became the US representative on March 3, 2008.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference on March 28 2008 added its voice to the growing criticism of the film 'Fitna' by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which features disturbing images of terrorist acts alleged to be superimposed over verses from the Quran.[3]

Ninth meeting of PUOICM

The ninth meeting of the Council of PUOICM was held on 15 and 16 Feb 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[4]. Speaker of Malaysia's House of Representatives, Ramli bin Ngah Talib, delivered a speech at the beginning of the inaugural ceremony. OIC secretary-general Prof Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said prior to the meeting that one main agenda item is stopping Israel from continuing its excavation at the Western Wall near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine.[5] OIC is also discussing how it might send peacekeeping troops to Muslim nations,[6] and the possibility of a change in the name of the body as well as its charter.[7] Additionally, return of the sovereignty right to the Iraqi people along with withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq is another one of the main issues on the agenda.[8]

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told reporters on 14 February 2007 that the Secretary General of OIC and foreign ministers of seven "like-minded Muslim countries" will meet in Islamabad on 25 February 2007 following meetings of President Musharraf with heads of key Muslim countries to discuss "a new initiative" for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kasuri said this will be a meeting of foreign ministers of key Muslim countries to discuss and prepare for a summit in Mecca to seek the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.[9]

Structure and organization

The OIC system consists of:

The Islamic Summit

The largest organ, attended by the Kings and the Heads of State and Government of the member states, convened every three years.

The Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers

It meets once a year to examine a progress report on the implementation of its decisions taken within the framework of the policy defined by the Islamic Summit.

The Permanent Secretariat

It is the executive organ of the Organization, entrusted with the implementation of the decisions of the two preceding bodies, and is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Current secretary general of this international organization is Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, from Turkey, since January 1 2005.

Standing Committees

• Standing Committee on Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC).
• Standing Committee on Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC).
• Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH).
• Islamic Committee for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs.
• Permanent Finance Committee.
• Financial Control Organ.

Subsidiary organs

• The Statistical, Economic, Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRTCIC), located in Ankara, Turkey.
• The Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), located in Istanbul, Turkey.
• The Islamic University of Technology, located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• The Islamic Centre for the Development of Trade, located in Casablanca, Morocco.
• The Islamic Fiqh Academy, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• The Executive Bureau of the Islamic Solidarity Fund and its Waqf, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• The Islamic University of Niger, located in Say, Niger.
• The Islamic University of Uganda, located in Mbale, Uganda.

Specialised institutions

• The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), located in Rabat, Morocco.
• The Islamic States Broadcasting Organisation (ISBO) and the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Affiliated institutions

• Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), located in Karachi, Pakistan.
• World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities (OICC), located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Sports Federation of Islamic Solidarity Games, located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• Islamic Committee of the International Crescent (ICIC), located in Benghazi, Libya.
• Islamic Shipowners Association (ISA), located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• World Federation of International Arab-Islamic Schools, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• International Association of Islamic Banks (IAIB), located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation,(ICYF-DC)located in Istanbul, Turkey.
• General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions,(CIBAFI)located in Manama, Bahrain.

The Secretary General of the OIC

1. Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia): (1971-1973)
2. Hassan Al-Touhami (Egypt): (1974-1975)
3. Dr. Amadou Karim Gaye (Senegal): (1975-1979)
4. Habib Chatty (Tunisia): (1979-1984)
5. Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada (Pakistan): (1985-1988)
6. Dr. Hamid Algabid (Niger): (1989-1996)
7. Dr. Azeddine Laraki (Morocco): (1997-2000)
8. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz (Morocco): (2001-2004)
9. Dr. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu (Turkey): (2005 to present)

Members

Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the "><" icon.

Country	Joined	Notes
Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of	1969	Suspended 1980 - March 1989
Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of	1969
Chad, Republic of	1969

Membership attempts

Membership in the OIC:

  Member

  Members once temporarily suspended

  Withdrew

  Observer

  Attempted to join but blocked

• India - has the third largest (Behind Indonesia and Pakistan, respectively) Muslim population in the world and had shown its interest in joining the OIC, as an observer nation. While India's candidacy is supported by several OIC members including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran and Egypt,<ref>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/730/in1.htm An Indo-Arab

• Philippines - The Philippine government has made attempts to join the OIC, but was

Past Islamic Summit Conferences

Number	Date	Country	Place
1st	September 22 - September 25, 1969	Morocco	Rabat
2nd	February 22 - February 24, 1974	Pakistan	Lahore
3rd	January 25 - January 29, 1981	Saudi Arabia	Mecca and Taif
4th	January 16 - January 19, 1984	Morocco	Casablanca
5th	January 26 - January 29, 1987	Kuwait	Kuwait City
6th	December 9 - December 11, 1991	Senegal	Dakar
7th	December 13 - December 15, 1994	Morocco	Casablanca
1st Extraordinary	March 23, 1997	Pakistan	Islamabad
8th	December 9 - December 11, 1997	Iran	Tehran
9th	November 12 - November 13, 2000	Qatar	Doha
2nd Extraordinary	March 5, 2003	Qatar	Doha
10th	October 16 - October 17, 2003	Malaysia	Putrajaya
3rd Extraordinary	December 7 - December 8, 2005	Saudi Arabia	Mecca
11th	March 13 - March 14, 2008	Senegal	Dakar

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference

The OIC members have a combined GDP (at PPP) of $7,840 billion. The richest country on the basis of GDP per capita is Qatar at $62,181 per capita. The Gulf Cooperation Council has a combined GDP of over $750 billion and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2010.

See also

• Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
• Islamic University of Technology
• International Islamic Relief Organization
• List of Organisation of the Islamic Conference member states by population
• Abdullah O. Nasseef

External links

• Official The Organisation of the Islamic Conference
• Official Islamic Conference with documents and information from the latest Summit (Arabic, English, French)
• Official Permanent Delegation of the OIC to the United Nations

• April 14 2006: Intifada Conference In Tehran Has Multiple Objectives Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty
• December 12 2005: Guardian Unlimited - An extraordinary meeting Brian Whitaker
• April 15 2005: Dinar Standard - Is Intra-OIC Trade finally taking off?
• October 18 2003: speech from Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad speech at the 10th OIC Summit
• September 5 2003: Fredrick Töben Speaks at Iran's Intifada Conference National Vanguard
• September 14 2001: statements from the Organization of Islamic Conference
• May 26 2001: OIC Calls for Suspension of Ties with Israel CNN Archives
• The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRTCIC)