International organizations of the Islamic world
The international organizations of the Islamic world in the global community have not only managed the international community in the political, technical, commercial and industrial fields, but also have been involved in governance matters such as peacekeeping, disarmament and arms control. One of the main issues and goals of the international organizations of the Islamic world in this century has been to achieve world peace and collective security and solve the problems of Muslims.
The international organizations of the Islamic world are trying to provide the Opportunities for more Muslim nations to come closer to solve some problems, and as a result, the international organizations put all their goals on this issue by holding a conference to find solutions to reach achieve peace and cooperation on the world stage.
Today, international life without international organizations is unimaginable at all, that is, no government can be found without exception that is not a member of one or more organizations, and this is even more important than establishing a relationship and cooperation in order to reach a consensus of opinion and action. It shows the opinion among the governments. Therefore, it can be seen to what extent the international organizations in the Islamic world have an important position in the international political, economic and social life.
International organizations have long been effective in establishing and maintaining peace and security, and they use various methods to resolve disputes peacefully, including political methods such as negotiation, mediation, compromise, or legal methods such as arbitration. and judicial proceedings.International organizations in the Islamic world have come into being in order to establish cooperation and cooperation among governments in various fields, such as: exchange of information, discoveries, and exchange of experiences so that to help governments to solve basic needs and provide services on a global level. This issues are not the responsibility of a single country.
Historical Background
In the Islamic world, there are many international organizations which have been formed to work in different fields. In some of these organizations, all Islamic countries are members, and in some, countries in the same region are members. These organizations are divided into several categories according to the field of their functions.
The First group: public organizations
The meaning of the general organization is an organization whose field of work is beyond a specific field and is active in several fields, although a specific field may prevail in its work. The example of this organization in the Islamic world is the only “Islamic Cooperation Organization”.
Islamic Cooperation Organization
The most important and famous international organization in the Islamic world is the Islamic Cooperation Organization. This organization is the third international governmental organization after the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.
The idea of forming this organization was first raised in the 1950s, but finally on September 25, 1969, at a meeting of 24 heads of Islamic countries in Rabat, the capital of Maghreb (Morocco), the organization was established.
The name of this organization since its establishment in 1969 until 2011 was Islamic Conference Organization. But at the 38th meeting of foreign ministers in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2011, it was changed to "Organization of Islamic Cooperation".
The obvious issues underlying the formation of the organization in the first stage were the failure of Arab efforts to liberate Palestine, the disastrous war of June 1967 or the Six Day War, the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Zionist invaders, and in the next stage, the need of Islamic countries for a regional organization where they could discuss and negotiate the issues affecting Islamic countries.
The non-obvious issues were the danger felt by America and some leaders of Islamic countries towards the spread of communism in some Islamic countries, and the phenomenon of Nasserism in the Arab world.
Organizational goals
Based on what is stated in the first part of article 2 of the charter, the organization was formed with the following goals:
· Consolidation of the foundations of unity among the member states.
· Strengthening cooperation among member states in economic, social, cultural and scientific fields and other important activities and conducting consultations among member states in international organizations.
· Efforts to eradicate racial discrimination and colonialism in any form.
· Taking the necessary measures to consolidate international peace and security in a way that is based on justice
· Participating in efforts to liberate and protect the holy places and support the struggles of the Palestinian people and help them to realize their rights and liberate their lands.
· Strengthening the struggles of all Islamic nations to preserve their dignity, independence and national rights.
· Creating suitable conditions to consolidate and strengthen cooperation and understanding among member governments and other governments of the world.
Members of this organization
This organization has 57 members from 4 continents as follows.
The Asian countries, in alphabetical order, are: Azerbaijan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iran, Bahrain, Brunei, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Yemen.
African countries, in alphabetical order, are: Algeria, Uganda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Chad, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Libya. Mali, Comoros, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria.
South American countries: Suriname, Guyana.
European country: Albania.
Criteria for membership in the organization
Article 8 of the organization's charter states: "Each of the Muslim governments can join this conference by submitting an application stating their desire to ratify the current charter and readiness to do so." Based on this, the members must be from Muslim states, but the primary charter is silent about the Islamic criteria of the state, but in the secondary charter, which was published under the title of "Covenant of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation", Article 3 mentions the majority of the Muslim population as a criteria.
Accordingly, some member countries of this organization do not have such criteria.
Uganda, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique in Africa, and Guyana and Suriname in South America, do not have majority Muslim populations.
Instead, the countries of Eritrea and the Sahara in Africa, and Kosovo in Europe, although most of their population are Muslim, they are not members of this organization. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a member and has been accepted as an observer.
Therefore, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation does not have comprehensiveness and hindrance in terms of members.
Considering the number of member countries, this organization could be a powerful arm in the hands of the Islamic world if it was used properly, but unfortunately, this conference, contrary to its length and breadth and the noise it has in the Islamic world, So far, it has not solved any problem of Muslims in the world.
It seems that the intention of the initial proponents of forming this organization, more than trying to liberate Palestine, was to quell the anger of Muslims in protest against the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to prevent the formation of a popular action against Israel in the Islamic world. Following the work process of activities of this organization and approvals of the summits and foreign ministries of Islamic countries also strengthens this guess to some extent.
Of course, this problem is not limied to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, but it affects most international organizations, because these organizations, due to the fact that great powers have influence over them or at least their decisions do not have an executive guarantee, so they do not have the necessary efficiency and cannot play a useful role.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation does not have an acceptable track record even in the field of creating unity in the Islamic society.
The Second group: political financial organizations
Some international organizations in the Islamic world are mainly active in the two fields of politics and economy. An example of this type of organization is the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council
The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, or "Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC)" or "Majlis Ta'awun al-Khaljiji", is a political-commercial bloc in which the Arab countries around the Persian Gulf are members.
This council was established on May 25, 1981 with the aim of economic and military integration, and one of its goals was to achieve a common currency by 2010. Currently, 6 countries: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait are members of this council.
These six countries, which have a total population of about 56 million people, About 40% of the world's oil resources and a quarter of the gas resources belong to them .The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has also followed the path of the Arab League and under the control of Saudi Arabia, it has become the arm of America and Israel in the region.
The third group: political organizations
Some organizations in the Islamic world are mainly active in the political field. An example of this type of organization in the Islamic world is the League of Arab States.
League of Arab States
The Arab League, whose full name is "The League of Arab States" or "Community of Arab Government" is an international regional organization consisting of the Arab countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa.
This union was established on March 22, 1945 by 6 countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. On May 5, 1945, Yemen also joined it.
This union currently has 22 main members and 4 supervisory members. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Djibouti, Comoros, Somalia, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, Mauritania and Yemen, are main members and Venezuela, Eritrea, Brazil and India are observer members. Syria's membership in this union has been suspended since November 2011.
In fact, the union is under the control of Saudi Arabia, and in this way it is under the control of the United States and the Zionist regime, and therefore in 2016, Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is the pride of the Arabs, was declared a terrorist group by this union, and only the foreign minister of Iraq protested this decision. And he called it in line with the interests of the Zionist regime.
In the period after the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the Arab League is one of the staunch opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The fourth group: economic organizations
The activity of some international organizations in the Islamic world is also in the economic field.
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)
The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is a regional economic organization. This organization was established by the three countries of Iran, Pakistan and Turkey in 1962 and started working under the name "Regional Development Cooperation Organization (RCD)". With the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the activity of the organization was interrupted, and in 1985, its activity was resumed under the title of "Eco".
In 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the countries of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan also joined it, and its members reached 10 countries.
Eco's secretariat is based in Tehran.
Islamic Development Bank
Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) is one of the specialized institutions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
The purpose of establishing this bank is to promote the economic development and social progress of the member countries and other Muslim communities around the world.
This organization was established on October 20, 1975 with the membership of 22 Islamic countries and with an initial capital of 755 million dinars, and the number of members and its capital increased in the following years. The organization currently has 56 members, and more than 4 billion dinars of capital.
The headquarters of the organization is in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and it has three regional offices in the cities of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Rabat, Morocco. Also, in order to follow the implementation of approved projects in each of the countries of Iran, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Libya, Pakistan, Senegal and Sudan, it has local regional representatives.
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, is a group of eight developing Islamic countries, which was formed on June 15, 1977, with the aim of strengthening the economic cooperation among the member countries. Indonesia, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Türkiye, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria are members of this organization.
The fifth group: environmental, social and economic organizations
The field of activity of some organizations is in the field of environmental, social and economic issues, or in other words "sustainable development" in which only an organization in the Islamic world is active in this field.
Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities
The Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities, which in Arabic is called "Organization of Al-Awasim and Islamic Cities", is an international, non-governmental and non-profit organization that was established in 1980.
The goal of the organization is to achieve the sustainable development of human gathering centers and it does not have any political activity and does not interfere in the internal affairs of member countries. This organization has 141 active members, whether capital or city, from 54 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, but it accepts all cities of the world as members.
The financial resources of the organization are provided by the annual membership fee of the members, financial contributions of members, individuals, institutions, municipalities, governments, as well as the income of the investments made by the organization.
English, Arabic and French are the official languages of the organization.
The Sixth group: scientific organizations
The field of activity of some international organizations in the Islamic world is also scientific issues.
Islamic, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)
The Islamic, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a scientific, cultural and educational organization affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which operates in the fields of education, science, culture and communication in Islamic countries and in order to support and strengthen relations among member countries.
This organization was established in January 1981. ISECO's main headquarters is in Rabat and so far this organization has opened two regional offices in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) and Tehran in December 2002. 51 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are members of this organization.
ISECO's main goals in the field of culture and communication are four issues:
· Renovation of Islamic culture in the refinement of human civilization;
· Promoting the principle of cultural diversity in the form of dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions;
· Giving importance to the contribution of Islamic culture in sustainable development;
· Strengthening the ability of member countries in the field of information and communication technology for sustainable development.
Isesco has signed cooperation agreements with 114 specialized organizations and institutions affiliated to the United Nations, regional international organizations, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. The Union of Universities of the Islamic World is a subsidiary of this organization.
Union of Islamic World Universities
Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World or FUIW, (Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World), is one of the subcategories of the Isesco organization, which is responsible for deepening the relations among Islamic countries and promoting scientific research cooperation among member countries' universities. 314 universities and higher education institutes are members of this union. Some Iranian universities, including Isfahan, Damghan and Al-Zahra universities, are members of this union. This union was established in 1987 and its headquarters is located in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.
Union of State Universities on the Caspian Sea
Union of State Universities of the Caspian Sea in 1996, with the presence of presidents of Gilan University, Mazandaran University and Gorgan University of Science and Natural Resources from Iran, Astrakhan State Technical University, Dagestan State University, University of Kalmykia from the Russian Federation, Atyrau State University from Kazakhstan and Baku State University from Azerbaijan were formed.
Now, this union has 55 members consisting of universities, science and technology parks and research institutes.
Objectives of the union
· Joint cultural, educational and research cooperation of member universities
· Exchange of information in the fields of sciences related to the Caspian Sea
· Creating a database of the Caspian Sea
· Holding joint seminars and workshops related to the Caspian Sea
· Publication of joint scientific bulletin in English
· Professor and student exchange in educational and research fields
· Creating new courses related to the Caspian Sea in universities of the Union
· Creating the necessary facilities to promote the language of the member countries of the Union
The countries of Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are members of this union.
World Assembly of Islamic Jurisprudence
The World or International Assembly of Islamic Jurisprudence is a jurisprudential scientific center, affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and all member Islamic countries can have a representative in it, but some countries do not have a representative yet.
This assembly with the aim of realizing Islamic unity, consolidating the religious foundations of the Islamic Ummah, discussing the problems of life and genuine ijtihad around them and providing solutions based on the Islamic Sharia was established in Makkah on the June 9, 1983 . The current headquarters of the assembly is in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Board of Directors of the Assembly consists of: the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Secretary General of the World Council of Islamic Jurisprudence, and six other members who are selected from among the members by geographical division.
In order to achieve its goals, the assembly has put the following issues on its agenda:
· Ccompiling an encyclopedia of jurisprudential terms;
· Compilation of Islamic jurisprudence in simple language;
· Cooperation with scientific and jurisprudential centers of the Islamic world;
· Compilation of Islamic jurisprudence in the form of actionable laws;
· Encouraging universities and other scientific centers to carry out jurisprudential studies;
· Establishment of Islamic study centers in some countries;
· Publication of reviewed topics;
· Revival of jurisprudential and principled heritage.
· Discussing new issues in economic, political, medical and similar fields and publishing their collection of articles in more than 50 volumes.
The seventh group: cultural organization
Some other international organizations in the Islamic world are engaged in cultural activities.
Eco Cultural Institute
ECO Cultural Institute is an institution affiliated to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) which was established in 1995 with the approach of "strengthening cultural affinities, spiritual ties and friendly relations among the nations of ECO member countries through social and cultural methods in theory and practice". The headquarters of the institute is in Tehran. The head of the institute is currently Mr. Sarwar Bakhti from Tajikistan.
World Union of Muslim Scholars
The World Union of Muslim Scholars was formed in 2004 by Yusuf Qarzawi and Abdullah bin Beyah from Sunni scholars, Mohammad Waezzadeh Khorasani from Shia scholars, and Ahmad ben Hamad ben Suleiman al-Khalili from Ibadi scholars. The Board of Trustees of the World Union of Muslim Scholars consists of 31 members.
Dr. Ali Mohyeddin Qarahdaghi is the general secretary of this union. He is a citizen of Qatar and was born in 1949 in the city of Qarahdagh, one of the provinces of Suleimanyieh, Iraq. Dr. Qarahdaghi has a doctorate degree in Sharia and Law from Al-Azhar University in Egypt in the field of contracts and financial transactions.
This union has held two conferences so far, the second of which was held on November 1, 2017 under the title "Palestine between the Balfour Promise and God's Promise" in Beirut.
The Eighth group: international non-governmental organizations
In addition to the mentioned organizations in the Islamic world, there are also some international organizations that have a popular aspect.
The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought
The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought is a non-governmental organization, consisting of a group of religious scholars of the Islamic world, which was formed with the aim of rapprochement among Islamic religions. This organization was established in 1990 by the order of Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The General Assembly consists of three elements: the General Assembly, the Supreme Council and the Secretary General. The members of the General Assembly elect the members of the Supreme Council. Also, the Supreme Council proposes Secretary General and the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran appoints him. The center of this organization is located in Iran and currently, Hamid Shahriari is its secretary general.
Goals of the Forum
· Revival and expansion of Islamic culture and knowledge and defense of the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of Muhammad bin Abdullah (the end of the Prophets) (pbuh)
· More acquaintance and understanding among scholars, thinkers and religious leaders of the Islamic world in the fields of belief, jurisprudence, social and politics
· Spreading the idea of rapprochement among intellectuals and intellectuals of the Islamic world and conveying it to the Muslim masses and informing them of the divisive plots of the enemies
· Consolidation and dissemination of the principle of ijtihad and inference in Islamic religions
· Coordination and formation of a united front against the propaganda conspiracies and cultural invasion of the enemies of Islam based on Islamic Muslim principles
· Removing skepticism and doubts among the followers of Islamic religions
Affiliated centers
Some centers affiliated to this assembly are:
University of Islamic Religions
The University of Islamic Religions was established with the aim of teaching all Islamic jurisprudence and jurisprudence in a comparative manner. Its central building is in Tehran and it has branches in Zahedan, Sanandaj and Bandar Abbas.
Research Institute of Taqrib Studies
The Research Institute of Taqrib Studies is located in Qom and conducts research in the fields of contemporary Islamic sciences and social political issues of the Islamic world.
Publications
The publication of Risal al-Taqrib, Risal al-Islam, Culture al-Taqrib, Peyk of Taqrib and Andishe of Taqrib are the Publications of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.
126 book titles of the works of the Assembly in Arabic and Farsi are presented in the software of the works of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.
Taqrib News Agency
Taqrib news agency with proximity approach publishes news related to the proximity issues of the Islamic world. This news agency prepares and publishes news in Persian, Arabic, English, Urdu and French languages.
Minhaj al-Qur'an organization
Minhaj al-Qur'an Organization or (MQI) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1981 by a Pakistani cleric named Taher-al-Qaderi in Lahore, Pakistan. This institution has a long-term strategic vision for religious moderation, effective education, dialogue and integration of religions and is active in about 100 countries. This organization is one of the first organizations of its kind that has started to expand the dialogue among religious minorities.