The foreign ministers of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation agreed, in their meeting yesterday, Sunday, December 19, 2021, to establish a humanitarian relief fund for Afghanistan in order to address the worsening economic crisis in the country that has made millions vulnerable to starvation during the winter season.

The fund will be established within the framework of the Islamic Development Bank to direct aid to Afghanistan in coordination with other parties.

The Pakistani capital, Islamabad, witnessed the launch of the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which includes 57 member states.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is the second largest UN organization after the United Nations, and it has offices and headquarters in many member states, and its headquarters is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The 57 member states of the organization are Muslim-majority countries from the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and the Balkans (Bosnia and Albania).

The organization has relations with the United Nations and other organizations to protect the vital interests of Muslims, and to work to settle disputes and conflicts in which member states are a party.

Birth and founding

September 25, 1969: The Organization of the Islamic Conference was established in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, after the first conference of Islamic world leaders was held following the Zionist attempt to burn the Al-Aqsa Mosque on August 21, 1969 in the occupied city of Jerusalem, which was condemned at that time by the whole world.

- The charter of the organization, upon its establishment, included a covenant to seek by all political and military means to liberate Jerusalem from occupation, but the missions of the organization expanded after that to include following up on the issues of the Islamic world in general.

March 1970: The First Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, held in the Saudi city of Jeddah, adopted the establishment of a general secretariat for the organization, to ensure communication between member states and coordination of work.

February 1972: The Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers held its third session, at which time the organization's constitution was adopted, which is supposed to strengthen solidarity and cooperation among Islamic countries in the social, scientific, cultural, economic and political fields.

1980: The first extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was held in Islamabad to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

2005: 21 out of 57 countries defaulted on their financial share, at a rate of 37%.

March 13 and 14, 2008: The current charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was adopted at the 11th Islamic Summit held in Dakar and defined the organization's goals, principles and basic objectives of strengthening solidarity and cooperation among member states.

June 2011: The organization's name was changed from the "Organization of the Islamic Conference" to the "Organization of Islamic Cooperation" during the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States, which was held in the Kazakh capital - at that time - Astana.

January 2012: The organization announced that it would launch an index at the Islamic World Securities Forum, with the aim of stimulating the financial sector in the member countries of the organization.

August 2012: The foreign ministers of the member states of the organization recommended suspending Syria's membership in the Islamic bloc.

September 2012: 5 member states did not pay their financial share, representing only 7% of the total member states.

The five countries are Somalia and Albania - which have not paid their financial shares 10 years ago due to war conditions and the atmosphere of political and economic instability they are going through - in addition to the Maldives, Comoros and Guinea Bissau.

The annual financial dues paid by the member states of the organization are determined based on the domestic economic output and population, in addition to internal standards of the organization.

The number of the organization's employees increased from 167 in 2004 to 202 in 2012.

The share of intra-Islamic trade increased from 205 billion dollars in 2004 to 539 billion dollars in 2010, and the proportion of this trade from the global trade share moved from 7% in 2004 to 10.5% in 2010.

- The ten-year work program of the organization set an increase in this percentage to nearly 20% in 2015, according to what was reported by the official website of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Madani’s resignation and the “refrigerator crisis”

October 31, 2016: The organization announced the resignation of its Secretary-General, Iyad Madani, from his position for “health reasons” and the nomination of the former Saudi Minister of Social Affairs, Yousef Al-Othaimeen, to fill the position as his successor.

The organization stated that Madani, who has held his position since 2014, "resigned for health reasons."

- The resignation came two days after Egypt expressed its condemnation of statements made by Madani and considered them an insult to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, after commenting on what has become known as “Al-Sisi’s refrigerator” in a speech by Madani at a ministerial conference in Tunisia.

- Madani at the time mispronounced the name of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi by converting it to Sisi. Madani told the Tunisian president during the opening of ISESCO's first conference of ministers of education in Tunisia, "Mr. President Beji Caid Essebsi... Essebsi, sorry. This is a grave mistake, I am sure your refrigerator is in it." More than water, Mr. President.

- Madani apologized for the incident, considering - in a statement - his statements in this regard "as a joke and foreplay."

However, Egypt threatened to "review its position regarding dealing" with the organization's secretariat and secretary-general, Iyad Madani.

Humanitarian funds and halal products

February 5, 2017: The organization launched 4 new and specialized Islamic humanitarian funds, to take care of the affairs of occupied Jerusalem, Palestine, mosques, orphans and water, under the slogan "A good start".

The inauguration of these funds came on the sidelines of the International Humanitarian Forum for Humanitarian Funds 2017, which was held by the organization under the patronage of the then Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani.

March 2017: During a meeting in Casablanca, the organization decided to form a working group to study the development of the halal industry.

The organization previously estimated the size of the global halal products market at $2.3 trillion.

She stated that foods and beverages constitute 67% of the total market, or about 1.4 trillion dollars.

- The organization said that there are 122 bodies currently active in the field of certification of halal products around the world, including governmental, semi-governmental and non-governmental organizations and local mosques.

May 2017: The organization decided to freeze the work of the office in Gaza at the request of the Palestinian Authority, and to transfer its powers to the organization’s office in Ramallah.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) condemned the closure of the Gaza office, and called on the Secretary-General of the organization to reconsider the decision.

March 2019: The final statement issued by the emergency meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul called on the United Nations and regional and international organizations to make March 15 a global day of solidarity against Islamophobia.

After a bloody attack on worshipers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which 50 people were killed and 50 others were injured, the Islamic Cooperation demanded that Islamophobia be considered racist.

August 2020: Pakistan threatened to leave the organization, revealing that its absence from the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Summit in December 2019 was under Saudi pressure.

Islamabad criticized the organization's indifference and permanent postponement of holding a meeting of foreign ministers of member states in order to support the Kashmiris and find ways to solve the issue of the region.

May 14, 2021: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the organization to act as soon as possible to stop the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians, stressing that "Islamic cooperation" would have denied its existence if it did not immediately take a concrete and effective position against these attacks.

Structure and goals

The organization aims - according to its charter - to achieve goals, including "protecting and defending the true image of Islam, confronting distortion of the image of Islam, encouraging dialogue between civilizations and religions", "respecting the right of self-determination, non-interference in the internal affairs of member states, and respecting the sovereignty of member states." independence and territorial integrity of each member state.

Among the objectives is “to affirm its support for the rights of peoples stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” and to “strengthen economic and trade cooperation among Islamic countries in order to achieve economic integration among them, leading to the establishment of a common Islamic market.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation consists of the following main organs:

Islamic

Summit

: composed of Kings and Heads of

State and Government of

the Member States, the highest body of

the organization, meets once every three years for deliberation and decision -

making.

Council

of

Ministers of

Foreign Affairs

: meet periodically once every year, and is

considering ways of

implementing the

general policy of the

Organization.

Secretariat

: The executive body of the

organization, and shall implement the

resolutions adopted by the

Islamic Summit and the

Council of

Foreign Ministers.

- The Secretary-General - who is elected for a period of 5 years, renewable once - is charged with several tasks, including following up on the implementation of decisions issued by summit conferences and councils of foreign ministers.

Islamic International

Court

of

Justice

: Kuwait -

based.

- Provides member states with working papers and notes in implementation of the decisions and recommendations of summits and other meetings.

Institutions and devices

- Institutions and bodies established within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation by virtue of a decision of the Summit or Islamic Cooperation Conference of Foreign Ministers.

The membership of these institutions is voluntarily open to the member states of the organization, and is distinguished by the fact that their budgets are independent of the budget of the General Secretariat or the budgets of subsidiary organs, and the budgets of these organs adopt texts and legislation in their statutes.

Affiliated institutions may be granted observer status by virtue of a decision issued by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, and they may also receive voluntary assistance from subsidiary and specialized organs as well as from member states.

The Islamic Development Bank (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

- Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Rabat, Morocco).

International Islamic News Agency (INA) (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

Islamic Countries Broadcasting Organization (ESPO) (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Karachi, Pakistan).

Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities (Makkah, Saudi Arabia).

Sports Federation of Islamic Solidarity Games (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

The Islamic Committee of the International Crescent (Benghazi, Libya).

- The Islamic Union of Shipowners' Owners (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

The World Federation of Arab Islamic International Schools (Cairo, Egypt).

Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (Istanbul, Turkey).

International Federation of Muslim Scouts.

The International Islamic Academy of Sciences.

Association of Consultants in Islamic Countries.

The General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions.

Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries.

The Network of Virtual Universities in the Islamic World.

Committees, centers and universities

The Al-Quds Committee, headed by the King of the Kingdom of Morocco (Rabat, Morocco).

The Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), headed by the President of the Republic of Senegal (Dakar, Senegal).

The Standing Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMCEC), chaired by the President of the Republic of Turkey (Ankara, Turkey).

The Standing Committee for Scientific and Technical Cooperation (COMSTECH), chaired by the President of the Republic of Pakistan (based in Islamabad, Pakistan).

Center for Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training for Islamic Countries (Ankara, Turkey).

Research Center for Islamic History, Arts and Culture (Istanbul, Turkey).

Islamic University of Technology (Dhaka, Bangladesh).

Islamic Center for the Development of Trade (Casablanca, Morocco).

International Islamic Fiqh Academy (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

The Islamic Solidarity Fund and its Waqf (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).

The Islamic University of Niger (Sai, Niger).

The Islamic University of Uganda (Mbale, Uganda).

Secretaries-General (chronology)

The position of the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has held the following personalities:

- Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia) 1970-1973.

Hassan El-Tohamy (Egypt) 1974-1975.

Ahmedou Karim Gay (Senegal) 1976-1979.

- Habib Chatti (Tunisia) 1980-1984.

Sharifuddin Pirzadeh (Pakistan) 1985-1988.

Hamid Al-Ghabed (Niger) 1989-1996.

Izz al-Din al-Iraqi (Morocco) 1997-2000.

Abdelouahed Belkeziz (Morocco) 2001-2004.

- Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (Turkey) 2005-2013.

Iyad Amin Madani (Saudi Arabia) 2014-2016.

Yousef Al-Othaimeen (Saudi Arabia) 2016-2021.

Hussein Ibrahim Taha (Chad) 2021 - present.