The Organization of the Islamic conference (OCI; منظمةالمؤتمرالإسلامي) (Turkish: Islam Konferansı Örgütü ) is an intergovernmental organization created the September 25th 1969 (12 Rajab 1389 H) which gathers fifty-seven Member States. It is an intergovernmental organization which has a permanent delegation with the the United Nations.

The head office of the OCI is located at Djeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Goal

In addition to clauses of solidarity and mutual aid between the Member States, it is intended to ensure the safeguard of the holy places of the Islam. It also supports the causes Palestinian in the Israeli-Arab Conflit.

The goals of the Organization of the Islamic conference, defined by a charter worked out in Djeddah in March 1972 are the following:

1. Consolider Islamic solidarity enters the Member States;
2. To strengthen the co-operation between the Member States in the economic domains, social, cultural, scientific like in the other fields of vital importance and to proceed to more consultations between the Member States within the international organizations;
3. To work to eliminate racial discrimination, and colonialism in all its forms;
4. To take the necessary measures to consolidate peace and world safety founded on justice;
5. To coordinate the action to safeguard the holy places, to support the fight of the Palestinian people and to help it to recover its rights and to release its territories;
6. To consolidate the fight of all the Moslem people for the safeguard of their dignity, their independence and their national rights;
7. To create the atmosphere suitable to promote the co-operation and comprehension between the Member States and the other countries.

But it is not a strictly religious organization, because its goals are political, economic, social and cultural. It gathers in its center of the secular or laic states (Syria, Iraq, Tunisia, Turkey), and certain states are represented within the organization by Christian .

Other states, cash of tens of million Moslems are not members of the OCI or are only observant members, like the India, the Russia or the China. And a contrario , of the countries cash a minority of Moslems is members, like the Guyana, the Ivory Coast, the Uganda or the Suriname.

In October 2006, the OCI compiles the “document of Mecque”. Signed by Shiite Iraqi dignitaries and sunnites, the text launches a call at the end of interdenominational violences, the release of all the hostages and the safeguarding of the unit of Iraq.

History

The September 25th 1969, several leaders of country of the Islamic world meet in Rabat (Morocco) following the case of arson of the Mosquée Al-Aqsa of Jerusalem the August 21st 1969 by one illumimé Australian.

In March 1970, the first Islamic conference of the Foreign Ministers takes place with Djeddah. It creates a general secretary charged to ensure the connection between the Member States and to coordinate their action. It fixes its provisional seat at Djeddah, in waiting of the “release of Jerusalem”.

March 16th, 1989, the OCI, bringing together the Foreign Ministers of the forty-four Member States, condemn in their turn the book of the satanic Versets , but restrict themselves to require the prohibition of the book, to recommend the adoption “of legislation necessary to the protection of the religious ideas of others” and to affirm that the author “is regarded as heretic”. This position which seems more moderate, affirms in fact their refusal to admit that the law of Islam cannot apply in the States not-Moslems and their agreement to give up Salman Rushdie with the sentence of death promised to the heretics and to renegades of the Islamic religion.

August 5th, 1990, the conference of the Foreign Ministers of the Cairo adopted the Déclaration of the human rights in Islam which can be seen as a will of second reading of the Human rights within a framework compatible with the Charia. This second reading in particular resulted in a strong religious impregnation and an omission of certain rights present in the original declaration, like freedom to choose and change Religion.

Members

General secretaries of the organization since his creation

1. S.A. Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia) 1971-1973

2. S.E.M. Hassan Touhami (Egypt) 1974-1975
3. S.E.M. Tinder-Karim Gaye (Senegal) 1975-1979
4. S.E.M. Habib Chatty (Tunisia) 1979-1984
5. S.E.M. Sharifuddin Pirzada (Pakistan) 1985-1988
6. S.E.M. Hamid Algabid (Niger) 1989-1994
7. S.E.Dr. Azzeddine Laraki (Morocco) 1997-2000
8. S.E.Dr. Abdoulwahed Belkeziz (Morocco) 2001-2004
9. S.E.Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglun (Turkey) since 2004

See too