In April 2016, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met in Istanbul, Turkey for a
Summit focused on promoting “unity and solidarity for justice and peace”.
This group of Islamic states is the second largest intergovernmental organization on
earth, after the United Nations, and claims to represent the collective voice of the Muslim
world.
But many have criticized the organization for their regressive charter on human rights,
and say that it does not represent the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims.
So, what exactly is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation?
Well, the OIC is made up of 57 member states, 49 of which have Muslim majorities.
Though the populations of these states are not inclusive of all Muslims in the world,
the OIC does comprise the largest Muslim nations, including Indonesia and Pakistan.
The group’s existence was sparked after Israel won the Six-Day War against several
Arab states, and occupied East Jerusalem.
Two years later, in 1969, a famous mosque in Jerusalem was set on fire by an Australian
Christian evangelical. in a complaint submitted to the United Nations by a group of 25 Muslim
countries, it was alleged that Israel was complicit in the arson, and soon after, these
countries formed what was called the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Their goals were centered around creating Muslim solidarity, protecting Islamic holy
sites, helping Palestinian causes, ending racial discrimination, and improving economic
cooperation among member countries.
Today their goals are similar, but Conference was changed to Cooperation in 2011.
Members of the OIC are also party to different Islamic and Middle Eastern groups, such as
The Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, The Economic Cooperation Organization, and
56 of the 57 countries are UN members.
Most military and economic partnerships come as a result of these smaller alliances, while
the OIC exists more as a forum for Muslim countries.
But despite their membership in the UN, they don’t always see eye-to-eye.
In 1948 United Nations announced their Universal Declaration of Human Rights announcing the
fundamental human rights which would be universally protected by all member nations.
42 years later, in 1990, the OIC released the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam,
on the basis that the UN's 1948 Declaration did not take into account differing cultural
and religious values.
The Cairo Declaration came under severe criticism from human rights groups, because it derives
all its inherent rights and freedoms from the Quran and Sharia law.
Moreover, in observance of Sharia law, the declaration does not allow freedom of religion,
and it gives different rights to men and women.
For example, the rights of free movement and marriage are only granted to men, with women
subordinate to the wishes of their husbands or fathers.
Many have called these religious exceptions purely incompatible with basic human rights.
Additionally, when the United Nations held its first discussion on discrimination against
sexual orientation, representatives of the OIC staged a walkout in protest, calling homosexuality
“licentious”, and saying that the topic should not be discussed again.
Overall, though member states have military and economic partnerships outside their group,
the Organization for Islamic Cooperation serves as a broad gathering of Muslim countries.
But despite claiming to represent the modern Muslim world, the OIC’s views on human rights
may be incompatible with those of many modern Muslims.
Much of Muslim culture and religious law is based on what is called “Sharia Law”.
In recent years, it has come under criticism for its rules on gender inequality.
So what exactly is
Sharia law?
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