The historical preconditions of creation of the Organization of Islamic Conference

The title is an article by K.B.Zhumagulova and Ye.Zh.Nazarov published in Серия «История. Философия». No 1(77)/2015. The following is the article.

Abstract

Creation of the OIC became an important step for the formation of foreign policy paradigm of Muslim states. All the steps to create the OIC in international relations as the main organization of Islamic countries made within the concept of « Islamic solidarity». The article examines as historical so political preconditions for the establishment of the OIC, as well as main objectives and reasons that gave rise to organization of Muslim states to create the OIC. In this regard, the OIC under the concept of « Islamic solidarity» for the right to occupy a central place in the Islamic world and it is a key organ of cooperation of the states with a large number of Muslim population.

Key words: foreign policy, modern international relations, the organization of the Islamic Conference, an international organization, integration, middle East, Islam, history of the Islamic world, pan- Islamism.

Introduction

Throughout world history, the main integrating force was the idea or concept, which became the main factor for the overall identification sufficiently large regions. At the end of the XIX century this idea was revived in the Islamic world, where people live in conditions of colonial policy of the European states. This fact influenced on the occurrence in the national liberation ideologies of two mutually exclusive tendencies pan- Islamism and nationalism young bourgeoisie.

Pan- Islamism as a religious political movement arose in the second half of the XIX century and closely related to the activities of Seyda Jamal al-Din Afghani (1839-1897yy.). He formulated the idea of «religiouspolitical alliance of Muslim nations». Pan- Islamism was defined as «the unity of the world of Islam (Dar al Islam) in one powerful group, whose aim is the embodiment of the principles of the Koran. This Islamic group is capable of always and everywhere opposes any course of human thought...» [ 1; 11]. Muslim countries of east al-Afghani compared with brooked shipwreck should act as the passengers of the ship: either together to save the ship, or to think everyone about yourself? In this formulation of the question every true Muslim should save the ship Islam. Al-Afghani developed fundamental principles of pan Islamism:

- firstly, the abandonment of the concepts introduced by the virtue of their alienation from the Islamic society and unfitness for it;

- secondly, to confirm the basic principle of pan- Islamism Islam is true for all times and places [1;11].

Pan- Islamism opposes international spirit of the theory of the Muslim brotherhood «regional narrowness». In the historical and political practice the idea of pan- Islamism is used to support the trend towards hegemony of one of the Muslim states. So, if in its initial stages pan- Islamism was a tool to strengthen the Ottoman Empire, after World War II it became an instrument of rivalry between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya and several other countries for hegemony in the Muslim world. This view is shared by some Muslim scholars, such as pakistani author Fateh M.Sando said: «If idealists and theorists have constantly emphasized the need for unity of the Muslim world, the practice is rarely showed interest in this problem. Mainly they were busy narrow local objectives: the conservation of power in the region, maintaining personal prestige or concern about these or other limited interest» [ 1 ;25].

Most fully pan- Islamism is represented in ideology and practice of the organization «Muslim Brotherhood»: the world is divided into two parts: the world of Islam and the «new barbarism»; for the salvation of mankind, steeped in the «new barbarism», it is necessary to establish a theocracy; return to the caliphate the best way to social justice; the salvation of mankind a return to God. The central elements of the concept of pan- Islamism is the superclass, supranational «Muslim unity», a worldwide community of the faithful, that is, pan- Islamism is theory of the Islamic cosmopolitanism with its characteristics, which does not recognize the existence of nations, but proclaims the unity of all Muslim nations.

The process of implementing the concept of pan- Islamism in the area of the spread of Islam prevents a whole group of factors, the main ones are: the contradiction between the feudal-nationalist and radical regimes; differences in socio-political and socio-economic development; rivalry for leadership in the Muslim world that unfolded between countries with different social systems (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya); the desire of some countries to pursue an independent foreign policy; unresolved national issues affecting the territory of several states (problems: the Palestinian, Kurdish, Baluchi, «Pashtunistan»); the presence of mutual territorial claims (Saudi Arabia Oman, Iraq Kuwait, Iraq Iran, Morocco Algeria, Iran Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia Yemen, Saudi Arabia Iraq, Iran - United Arab Emirates, Iran Bahrain, etc.); differences and contradictions between the main branch of Islam ( Sunni and shia), which play a role in the increasing complexity of interstate contradictions of Muslim countries; by virtue of its participation in various international and regional organizations, Muslim countries can not ignore their obligations for the sake of « Islamic solidarity». The contradictions between the public interest and religious communities are not always clearly resolved in favor of Islamic unity.

In general, religious alternative to the colonial dependencies underlying the concept of pan- Islamism, of course, had some progressive potential of the struggle for national liberation in the early XX century.

After the first World War, in region of the spread of Islam had changed dramatically, to create preconditions for the emergence of alternative pan- Islamism trends. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the creation of the League of Nations, the elimination of the caliphate in 1924 led to an increase regional nationalism. The concept of pan- Islamism contrary to the ideology of nationalism in terms of fundamentals and objectives of the struggle for independence: pan- Islamism was expecting the unification of all Muslims in a single state, and nationalist approach demanded independence within the borders of the emerging nation.

In the context of Turkey, where the nationalist concept of «healthy Turkism» had been implemented in the form of the ideology of state power and the organization of society on the basis of the republic; measures were taken to separate religion from the state, such as the abolition of the sultanate, and then caliphate, closing religious schools and orders of dervishes; were adopted criminal and civil codes based on western concepts of law, abolished the institution «Sheikh-ul- Islamat» and the ministry of waqf, created the of fice of religious affairs; in a special amendment to the constitution of 1928 was pointed separation of church from state, abolished the position of Islam as the state religion. M.Kemal (1881-1936 yy.)- the leader of the national liberation revolution in Turkey in 1917-1923 years constantly pointed to the unacceptability of ottomanism, panturkism and pan Islamism. Essential elements of the anti-imperialist concept of Kemal were as follows: anti-imperialism, national sovereignty, the condemnation of the economic policy of monarchs (sultans) [2;72].

Each of the concept- a regional nationalism, pan-arabism and pan- Islamism contained elements of anti-imperialist orientation. However, as a rule, carriers of pan- Islamism and pan-arabism in interstate terms were and are monarchist-feudal regimes and their ideologues, the critique of imperialism was paralleled by anti-communism, putting forward as an ideal «golden age» of the caliphate. And of course, the center of the caliphate would have become the capital of the state the initiator of pan- Islamic or pan-arabic movement.

This situation in the zone of spreading Islam created the preconditions for the emergence of the concept of « Islamic solidarity» as the most flexible intermediate (between the national form of existence of the Muslim countries and the ultimate goal the creation of a single Islamic state) formula idea of intergovernmental cooperation and the imperative of unity on a religious basis.

Country created Islamic centers, Islamic centers in these countries put forward the movement's leaders. World Islamic Congress puts Pakistan on the move « Islamic solidarity» as a true « Islamic state». Academy of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar puts Egypt as the leader of this movement. In tum, League of lslamic World (further League, LIW) qualifies Saudi Arabia as a «chosen by Allah ground... winner of two major shrines of Islam Mecca and Medina» [3;53].

With the creation of Pakistan in 1947 (literally «the country of the faithful») on the basis of the religious community of Muslims in the area of the spread of Islam there is another plus: Islamization in the form of a sovereign state. According to the russian researcher V. Moskalenko, «the policy of Islamization of Pakistan was not a spontaneous burst of expression of religious feelings of the population, and was carried out under the full control on top of the secular power. Islamic theologians in this played clearly subordinate role» [4;62].

Founder and leader of the party «Jamaat-e- Islami» in Pakistan Abul Ala Maududi (1903 1979 yy.) is a recognized author in the development of modem conditions the concept of « Islamic state». He put forward the four principles of organization and functioning of the Islamic state:

l. The supreme power in the Islamic state belongs to God, the government acts as a deputy (Caliph) of God on earth.

2. The shariah is the fundamental law of the country.

3. Existing legislation must not contradict sharia.

4. The state should not transgress the «border», established by Islam [5; 113].

In practice prevailed over a steady trend towards the establishment of international theological-religious and government's attempts to combine several Muslim states. Already in may 1926 at the Congress in Cairo (30 delegates from 11 Muslim countries, there were no Islamic organizations from Afghanistan, Iran, India, Sudan and Turkey) was adopted an appeal to the Muslim world to promote the formation of a new caliphate.

At the first World Islamic Congress (WIC) in Mecca in june 1926 ( 60 delegates) failed to agree on the need for such congresses. The second congress WIC was held in 1931 in Jerusalem, where the movement of pan- Islamism in the 20s and early 30s really resist the expansion of Zionism. 1949 and 1951 took place on 3 and 4 session of the World Islamic congress. At this congress was developed a charter of the organization and made statements contained a requirement that all governments of the world of non-interference in the affairs of the World Islamic congress. Thus, all the meetings of heads of Muslim countries and communities, conducted in the period between the First and Second World Wars, could not have any decisive importance for the development of the general Muslim movement. At the same time, these attempts interstate association created certain prerequisites for integration in the region spread the Muslim religion and culture.

In 1962, in Baghdad and in 1964 in the city of Mogadishu were held on 5 and 6 session of the World Islamic Congress. The headquarters of the World Islamic congress is located in Karachi (Pakistan).

League of Islamic World is the most influential among the theological and religious organizations, founded by Saudi Arabia in 1962 and headquartered in Mecca. Thus Mecca became the center of an alternative Pakistani influence in the movement of pan- Islamism and its modifications. This non-governmental Islamic organization was formed to promote Islam, organizing the pilgrimage to Mecca, promote the construction of mosques. The first forum of LIW adopted a Charter, proclaiming strengthening Islamic solidarity, the dissemination of ideas of Islam, support constant contacts with leading religious figures and scientists, to establish and develop close relations with Muslim adherents who live outside the traditional Islamic area, as well as «support for holy war everywhere, wherever it arose» [6;15].

The idea of creation of the league was agreed and adopted by initiated by the king Saud meeting of leaders of Muslim organizations in Mecca in 1962. LIW now brings together the main Muslim organizations and society, the largest of which are the High Council of Mosques, the Permanent Committee on the Honouring of lslamic law, International Islamic Relief Organization. The supreme body is the Congress.

At the same time, the structure LIW is not clearly defined. This organization is trying to respond to major regional and global challenges the integrity of the Islamic world. However, it does not seek to develop mechanisms to address common to all Muslim countries problems of an economic and social nature, which determined its weakness and relative inefficiency, reducing the activities of the League of Islamic World to the proclamation of political declarations more general nature.

In April 1965, a session of the World Islamic Conference held in Mecca on the initiative of Saudi King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, at which the king made a call for creation a military-political alliance of Muslim countries Islamic Pact. In the context of the growing confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States and gained prominence non-aligned movement countries of the third world, that idea did not find wide response among the developing countries of Asia and Africa. However, the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia still returns to the project of Faisal to establish peace unified armed forces of the Muslim world.

1969 became a turning point for the creation of a new mechanism of consolidation of state sponsors of common religious values. The reason for this was an incident with arson the third most important religious shrines and sacred to all Muslims mosque Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem by Israeli extremist. This event shook the all Islamic world and caused a strong protest among the Muslim population. Four days after the incident, on 25" august, the foreign ministers of fourteen arab states went to Cairo to decide to hold a summit of leaders of Islamic countries in order to protect Muslim holy sites.

In the same year, on a wave of public indignation in the Muslim area, political representatives from 28 Asian and African countries met in Rabat (Morocco) to create coordinating center that on the principle of religious solidarity could provide protection shrines of Islam. The heads of Muslim states pledged to jointly safeguard the rights and interests of the Muslim Ummah, to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for the liberation of Palestine, and to consult on how to strengthen cooperation and mutual assistance in the economic, scientific, cultural and spiritual areas, in accordance with the immortal teachings of Islam. In this regard, in the basis for the new organization was based the principle of consolidation with countries where the majority of inhabitants are Muslim. To achieve this goal, it was decided to establish a new international structure.

As a result of matching the positions of the Muslim east, in 1970 I and II Conference of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah and Karachi was formalized education interstate coordinating center of the « Islamic Conference». The General Secretariat of the organization and its head were elected and the temporary seat of the Organization of lslamic Conference (OIC) «until the liberation of Jerusalem» became Jeddah. Two years later, in February-March 1972, at the third conference of foreign ministers in Jeddah was adopted charter of the organization, according to which the application for admission must be submitted to the OIC General Secretariat and approved at the next conference of foreign ministers. For approval is necessary to collect 2/3 of the votes of the participants [7].

The OIC is the largest and most influential Muslim formal intergovernmental international organization. Currently, it unites 57 countries with a population of over 1.4 billion people. According to the number of participating countries, OIC is the second institutional structure after UN in the world. The objectives of the OIC joint actions to strengthen Islamic solidarity and large-scale cooperation between Member States in the political, economic and social fields, conducting peaceful policy emanating from the fundamental canons and aimed at preserving Islamic values, as well as support for the Muslim peoples in the protection of freedom and independence. In particular, support for the Palestinian people to establish an independent state and the preservation of Islam's holy places in its territory. As we know, these issues have not lost their relevance and determine the international agenda in the current context of globalization.

The basic principles of the OIC full equality, respect for the rights of every people to self-determination, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states, the solution of disputes between member countries of the OIC peacefully through negotiation, mediation or arbitration, non-use of force or threat of application. All this is fully consistent with the cornerstone principles of the UN activities [8].

OIC suggests multifaceted cooperation between the « Islamic state» based on religion (« Islamic solidarity»). The organization is an intercontinental character, its universality claim to the level of the UN in the directions of their activities, but it is limited to the member states belonging to the «Ummah» a religious community of people who practice Islam, even if Muslims do not make up the majority of the population in some countries, that is practiced in the reception states that only in the future, after the appropriate changes in their society on the basis of the postulates of Islam, can become full members of the movement « Islamic solidarity». In this regard, the Islamic international organizations it intermediates in the process of «realization of the idea of global Islamic solidarity» [ 1 ;70] as stated by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia at the opening of the I conference of heads of state and government of the Islamic countries in september 1969 (Rabat, Morocco).

The strengths of the OIC are:

the leading role of the rich oil-producing states, together with some other countries of the Islamic region controlling huge reserves of strategic raw materials oil, natural gas;

the existence of certain levers of influence on Western Europe and North America by investing a sig• nificant proportion of petrodollars in Western economies;

considerable resources and vast territory, which is crucial to influence the contemporary international relations [8].

However, on the activities of the organization affects the extreme heterogeneity of the socio-political structures and ideological orientations of the ruling regimes in the Muslim world. They share different approaches to major international and foreign policy issues, differences in the forms and methods of use of Islamic tenets in domestic and foreign policy between fundamentalists and moderates supporters. From here lack of a clear overall strategy of the OIC in politics and the economy, maintaining the sharp contradictions.

Thus, in the Muslim world there is confrontation between the two main trends: on the one hand, the trend of consolidation of Muslim states and their isolation in world politics and economy, on the other the internal differentiation of Islamic region in the ideological, political, economic and social basis. Both trends are reflected in the activities of the association.

In the history of the OIC organization « Islamic solidarity» played a key role, but it was not a reflection of the « Islamic integration» and was conceived as a tool to activate the pan- Islamism in modem conditions with the relevant international legal registration of constituent documents. That is, the further development of the Middle East crisis was used by Saudi Arabia to create under its aegis focal point « Islamic state».

Attempts to unlock the conflicts in the ways of « Islamic solidarity» with the use of the OIC and its missions for the settlement did not give any results. This indicates that the religious aspects in the activities of the OIC is increasingly replaced by political stance on important issues of our time, including on the key issues of war and peace.

It is crucial that the formation of the structure of the OIC pragmatic wing of the Muslim world failed to defend the secular nature of the organization. This allowed the early stages of development to overcome its religious seclusion and out of the plane of religious and political confrontation with the rest of the world to channel into defending the interests of the axis of South North.

Against the backdrop of the collapse of the UN system and its substitution mechanisms of US and NA TO coalition, operations OIC to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries remains unnoticed. Organization of the Islamic conference and its subsidiary bodies system, specialized agencies and affiliated institutions became a reality of modem international relations. Its effectiveness is the main issue the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the development of cooperation between the states of the spread of Islam is questionable. It is difficult to part with their national interests for states, even if the religious factor is listed in the national interest.

Thus, the OIC was founded as a response to the challenges of the Muslim world, which comes from the resulting policy in the middle east Israel, supported by the western world, especially the United States. In the postwar period, almost all states of the Muslim east were involved in the global geopolitical struggle between the two world systems. But the incompatibility of the norms and values of Islam with the communist essentially atheistic ideology, on the one hand, and capitalist, with its consumer culture on the other, did the Muslim population as a whole immune to the policy of the USSR and the USA.

From the dissolution of the caliphate to the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Conference in 1969, the carriers of the idea of pan- Islamism were World Islamic Congress (WIC) and the League of lslamic World. Theological non-governmental organizations in fact are the guardians of the «purity» of Islam. They entrusted with the development of various issues related to the theological justification of the most important problems of Islamic intergovernmental organization. Much attention is paid to their activities in the theory of international « Islamie solidarity», the concept of an « Islamic state», developed draft constitution, with «Muslim vision» of the world as a whole. As WIC and LIW have consultative status with the UN.

The formula «Ummah religious community - isolidarity - Islamic bloc a single Islamic state» not implemented in practice, and there is a severe contradiction when trying to implement it, so stands the idea of « Islamic solidarity» as the most practicable in modern conditions the formula for relations between Muslim countries.

The modem movement « Islamic solidarity» is not recognized by theorists, but is widely represented political practices, including at the state level, who see the result of their activities output Muslim organizations and countries from the United Nations and the founding of the United Muslim nations with its Security Council, the formation of the Muslim «common market», creating a united Muslim armed forces with a unified military command, so that Muslim countries will become the third force in the world, independent from the capitalist and communist powers.

The concept of « Islamic solidarity» can be regarded as the most important foreign policy principle of Muslim countries towards the realization of the ideas of pan- Islamism. In any case, it is a wish to it her theologians and politicians regimes acting for the practical implementation of this concept. In this regard, the idealization of « Islamic solidarity» in international relations is a manifestation of religious-oriented branch in the development of the theory and practice of international relations. The emergence of financial capacity in a number of oil-producing Muslim countries in conjunction with the changed configuration of international relations were perceived initiated and inspired movements « Islamic solidarity» in the literal sense as a green light to start the restructuring of international relations in the Islamic model on the way to the Islamic world order.

However, assessing the realities of the XXI century, the movement of « Islamic solidarity» in the face of the Organization of Islamic Conference to state that «the spread of the phenomenon of globalization in all spheres of life, and in particular the liberalization of trade, unlimited flow of information and the development of communication and technology to shorten the distance and turned the world into a small village universal», and that «the construction of a bridge across the gulf in international relations that arose in connection with the adverse effects of globalization is not just a moral obligation, but also a vital imperative goal, the achievement of which calls for establishment of international partnerships and social justice to the same extent as to achieve equality in access to the fruits of progress, globalization, the revolution in communications technology and trade liberalization to all members of the international community to ensure that globalization could get a human dimension and could help create a balance between northern and southern societies» [ 1 ;28].

Thus, summing up the relatively dynamic course of history of integration processes in the Islamic world, the cooperation of Muslim states on trans-regional level, began to develop in the first half of the XX century to the present time has reached a high enough level. In this regard, the OIC under the concept of « Islamic solidarity» for the right to occupy a central place in the Islamic world and it is a key organ of cooperation of the states with a large number of Muslim population.

References

The references are available on the website of the Journal.