Senegal: 11th Summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference

The 11th summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OCI) took place in Dakar on March 13 and 14, around the theme: “Islam in the 21st century” and gathered the Arab Sovereigns, heads of States and government representatives from the 57 member countries. For two days, the work was devoted to the strengthening of the new economic collaboration between Muslim countries, and Islamophobia in the West.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference created in 1969 is the second international organization after UNO. An observatory of OCI was set up “to fight against defamation campaigns against Islam in the world” and, to this end, it had drawn up a report to serve as basis for the work of the summit, and in which the United States and Europe are pointed out as the portions of the world where Islamophobia is “most visible.”

“Muslims living in Europe meet with numerous obstacles to their social integration,” the report read. “Nationality in Europe, has always been defined in terms of ethnic origin since 1648, the date of the Treaty of Westphalia.” OCI also showed concern about the initiative of the populist right wing aiming at forbidding the building of minarets in Switzerland.

The president of Senegal, Adboulaye Wade, elected as the head of the OCI for a three-year term of office, on March 13, declared: “We witness the development of a certain Islamophobia spread by malefic spirits. (…) Let us not fall into the trap set up by people who are marginalized and only deserve our contempt. We must ignore them.”

“We call upon all to defeat the ignoble accusations leveled at our religion,” stated, for his part, Prince Faisal of Arabia, who exhorted to “prepare the way for a better understanding between religions and peoples.”

The final declaration of the summit firmly condemned the continued publication of “insulting cartoons” of Mohammed the prophet and the release of “a documentary movie profaning the Holy Koran,” as well as “the oppression and the violations done against Muslim communities and minorities in some countries which are not members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.” The summit called upon the government of Denmark, inviting it to firmly condemn the reprint of the cartoons of Mohammed the prophet, and to undertake “suitable action” against the culprits, in conformity with national laws and international juridical instruments which forbid insults to the religious beliefs of others, and to publish provoking material which could incite to violence and disturb social order. The leaders of OCI noted that Muslims have become “victims of manifestations of prejudice and hatred.” The summit of Dakar, the final declaration continued, has exhorted the member States of OCI “to discourage” future activities aiming at tarnishing the image of Islam.

“A new charter has been unanimously adopted, and this is a great moment in the life of OCI,” declared Turkish General Secretary of OCI, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, during a press conference. “This summit is truly a historic turning point. Since 1972, no summit brought about so many successful events, especially concerning the charter,” he continued. “We have managed to provide a brand new charter, this is a significant step forward in the history and in the future of OCI. (It) expresses the new vision of the Muslim world, the new impetus of the organization, and lastly it sets our house in order.”

On the other hand, the summit called upon the members of OCI “to contribute substantially” to the Fund of Islamic Solidarity for Development (FISD), launched in May 2006. The FISD has for its objective to establish solidarity within the Ummah (Muslim community) where the very wealthy oil-producing States live together with very poor small countries like Sierra Leone, Nigeria, or Bangladesh. This fund must eventually have a capital of 10 billion dollars whereas it presently is of 2,6 billion dollars contributed by 31 of the 57 member countries.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono explained: “When the Islamic renaissance occurs, it will be the natural fruit of a pacific and constructive jihad.” “We must first of all improve the lot of Muslim populations. (…) This implies an extensive and intensive economic cooperation between us,” he continued. “It presupposes that we put in common some of the resources and reduce the discrepancies in development throughout the whole Muslim world.” “Given the enormous human, natural, and financial resources we have at our disposal, we can create a great force for the good. It will be a force of Islamic origin for the fight against poverty and the attainment of global peace and harmony.” (Sources: Apic/Imedia/AFP)