International Islamic Organizations as Subjects of International

Relations

Alimova Nargiza Muminovna

Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Sovereign States, Actors, International Relations, International Organizations, Intergovernmental

Organizations, Non–Governmental Organizations, Modern System, United Nations, OIC, EU, International

Conflicts, Global Problems, Peace, Interstate Organizations, International Non-Governmental Organizations

Stability and so on.

Abstract: The present article is about International Islamic organizations, as one of the main types of "actors" of world

politics and economics after states. Here is the history and typology of international organizations, and also

their functions and role in world politics, in ensuring peace, security and sustainable development of States.

1 INTRODUCTION

International organizations are intergovernmental and

non–non-governmental public organizations

operating at the international level and established, as

a rule, on the basis of a treaty, agreement, charter,

convention and other documents. Each of the

international organizations has certain goals and

activities and has different influence in a particular

field of activity at the regional or global levels.

International organizations are one of the main

types of "actors" in world politics and economics after

states. The prototypes of modern international

organizations arose long before our time (the

Peloponnesian Union of Greek city-states of the 6th-

4th centuries BC, the Hanseatic Union of northern

German cities in the late Middle Ages, etc.). The first

international organization of the modern type is

considered to be the Central Commission for

Navigation on the Rhine, the purpose of which even

then reflected the role of international organizations

as a specific type of international "actors" -

coordination of the activities of its participants in

achieving specific goals.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6397-2742

2 THE MAIN RESULTS AND

FINDINGS

The manifestation and development of international

organizations are associated with the strengthening of

the role of international law and the increasing role of

multilateral diplomacy as a means of international

communication. During the XIX – first half of the XX

centuries, the number of international organizations

grew steadily, for example, the International

Committee of the Red Cross and the League of

Nations emerged.

International organizations are classified

according to several criteria – the nature of

membership (intergovernmental and non-

governmental), geographical dimension (global,

regional, sub-regional), and functional dimension

(general competence, multifunctional, special

competence). The most fundamental basis for the

classification of international organizations is the

nature of membership.

The most important features of intergovernmental

organizations are that they are created by

governments on the basis of an interstate agreement

(UN, OIC, EU, NATO, OPEC, ASEAN, IMF, WTO,

CIS, etc.).

The creation and functioning of international

Islamic organizations can serve as a kind of criterion

for the development of the Islamic world as a

1532

Muminovna, A.

International Islamic Organizations as Subjects of International Relations.

DOI: 10.5220/0012977300003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1532-1537

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

"consolidated subject of international politics." A

significant number of intergovernmental, non-

governmental, as well as Muslim charitable

organizations and foundations operate in the Islamic

world (the World Assembly of Islamic Youth; the

Ibrahim bin Abd al-Aziz Al-Ibrahim Foundation, the

International Humanitarian Appeal, the Commission

on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah, the

Islamic Relief and Rescue Agency, etc.). the goals of

their activities, stated in the constituent documents,

are quite similar and, as a rule, do not go beyond the

provision of material assistance by individual citizens

and public and religious associations, as well as

assistance in organizing religious education.

2.1 International Islamic

Intergovernmental and

Non-Governmental Organizations

The existence and activity of international Islamic

organizations can serve as a kind of criterion for the

development of the Islamic world as a "consolidated

subject of international politics." The idea of uniting

the Islamic world by creating an international

organization originated after the First World War

among Palestinian religious figures. One of the first

to express such an idea was the Mufti of Jerusalem,

Sheikh Muhammad al–Husseini (1893-1974). In

1926, an international Islamic conference was held in

Mecca. Representatives of 15 Muslim countries

announced the creation of the World Islamic

Congress (WIC), an international non–non-

governmental organization designed to promote

cooperation between Muslim communities around

the world in the fields of politics, economics, religion,

education and culture. In 1931, its constitution was

approved in Jerusalem, and a permanent body, the

Executive Committee, was elected.

After the Second World War, the centre of the

Islamic movement moved to the newly formed

Muslim state of Pakistan. In 1951, representatives of

32 Muslim countries and communities took part in the

regular session of the Congress, held in Karachi,

Pakistan. They approved the Charter of the VIC, the

governing body was the Supreme Council, which

meets annually and appoints the Secretary-General.

In 1962 At the session held in Baghdad, delegates

from 40 countries, including the USSR, worked out a

common strategy to support the political and

economic independence of Muslim countries.

The VIC met with active opposition from the

Salafists, who represented one of the influential

Muslim religious movements. Within it, the Muslim

Brotherhood Association was particularly active, for

which the World Islamic Congress was represented as

an organization expressing the exclusive interests of

the nationalist regimes in Pakistan, Egypt and

Indonesia, who were "usurping the ideals of the

Islamic Ummah". The association, which enjoyed the

support of the King of Jordan, attracted the Muslim

communities of 15 countries to its side.

The VIC residence is located in Karachi, the

organization has branches and branches in 67

countries of the world. It should be noted that the VIC

has the status of a non-governmental, consultative

organization with the UN and an observer in the OIC.

The VIC aims to achieve worldwide Islamic

brotherhood, unity and cooperation of all Muslims for

the benefit of the "social and cultural solidarity of all

mankind." Its research centres and organizations

specialize in the development of Muslim social

concepts. According to researcher H. Haqqani, VIC

"played a crucial role in shaping the sense of

victimization of Muslims, which consistently fueled

the global Islamist movement".

At the initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia, a

General Islamic Conference was held in Mecca in

1962, attended by representatives of 32 countries,

mainly ulema of various Islamic movements and

madhhabs (Salafi-Hanbalites, Malikites, Shafi'ites,

Hanifites). The conference resulted in the creation of

the League of the Islamic World – LIM (Rabita al-

alam al-Islami). The main objectives of the LIM are

proclaimed: Islamic propaganda and Islamic

education; protection of the Islamic cause; realization

of the interests and aspirations of Muslims, solving

their problems; fighting against false accusations

against Islam; refuting the claims of enemies of Islam

"seeking to destroy the unity of Muslims and sow

doubt in the Muslim brotherhood". Among the goals

of LIM is also the establishment of cooperation

between Islamic states in the political, economic and

cultural fields, strengthening the influence of religion

in society, and the introduction of the principles of

Islam in the constitution of Muslim states.

LIM has official representative offices in three

dozen countries where Muslims make up the majority

of the population, it represents Islamic organizations

from more than a hundred countries of the world, and

the object of its activities are local non-governmental

organizations (communities, educational institutions,

mosques, etc.). The league coordinates the activities

of Islamic charitable foundations established in Saudi

Arabia or with the active participation of this state in

various countries of the world. Since the

establishment of the organization, the leading

position in LIM has been occupied by Saudi Arabia,

which is its main sponsor. Accordingly, the League is

International Islamic Organizations as Subjects of International Relations

1533

actively engaged in spreading Wahhabi ideology in

various countries and regions. For example, the

League defended the Muslims of Chechnya during

the first Chechen war in Russia.

LIM seeks to expand its presence and influence by

establishing representative offices even in countries

that are not traditionally Muslim. Since the 1970s,

LIM Regional Councils have been coordinating

LIM's practical activities in Europe (headquartered in

London), Asia (Karachi), Africa (Dakar), and North

and South America (New York). LIM also made a lot

of efforts to lead the coordination of the activities of

other international non–non-governmental

organizations - the VIC and the Afro-Asian Islamic

Congress, established in 1965.

The Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and the arson of the

Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in August 1969

accelerated the convening of a conference of Muslim

countries at the highest level. It took place in

September 1969 in Rabat, the capital of Morocco.

The first Muslim intergovernmental organization

called the Organization of the Islamic Conference

was established there, which changed its name to the

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2011.

The OIC was founded with the participation of

delegations from 22 States, as well as observers from

the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In fact,

the organization began its activities in 1971, when its

working body, the General Secretariat, was finally

formed. In fact, any state claiming to belong to the

Islamic world could become a member of it. Observer

status was also introduced at the OIC, which was

presented to international organizations (the League

of Arab States, a number of Muslim organizations),

some States with Muslim populations, state entities

not recognized by the world community (the Turkish

Republic of Northern Cyprus), individual liberation

movements and organizations (for example, the PLO,

the Philippine Moro Liberation Front).

The goals of the organization were formulated

mainly at the conferences of the heads of Muslim

States in Rabat in 1969 and Mecca in 1981, where the

Mecca Declaration was adopted. According to the

documents of these meetings, the main objectives of

the organization's activities are: strengthening Islamic

solidarity, developing multifaceted ties between

Islamic States; promoting the elimination of racial

discrimination and colonialism; maintaining peace

and international security, supporting the people of

Palestine in their struggle for their rights, including

the liberation of the occupied territories; supporting

the struggle of all Islamic peoples for independence

and national rights; creation of conditions for

cooperation between the member States of the

organization and other States.

The main goal formulated in the Charter of the

OIC was to strengthen solidarity between them in the

economic, social, cultural, scientific and other vital

spheres on the basis of commitment to the UN Charter

and the principle of respect for fundamental human

rights. Candidate countries for membership in the

OIC must meet one of three criteria:

 the majority of the country's population are

Muslims;

 the constitution qualifies the state as Islamic;

 the head of state is a Muslim. These criteria

were finally worked out in 1987.

Since the early 1970s, the number of member

countries of this organization has increased from 24

to 57. The OIC documents attempt to synthesize

generally accepted norms of international law with

Muslim legal principles. The Universal Islamic

Declaration of Human Rights, developed by the OIC,

proclaims non-interference in the internal affairs of

sovereign States, but at the same time speaks of the

need to protect Muslim minorities in certain

countries, for example, in India or the Philippines, on

the grounds that they are an inseparable part of the

world Muslim community - the Ummah.

The OIC is a subject of international law. In 1975,

it received UN observer status. At the Conference of

Foreign Ministers of the OIC member States held in

1980, a permanent committee was established

consisting of 11 ministers of the participating

countries and the Secretary General of the OIC to

consider any emergency situation in the Muslim

world and resolve disputes and conflicts between the

member countries of the organization.

All decisions of the OIC are advisory in nature.

Unlike the UN, it does not have a mechanism for

implementing decisions. Therefore, its activities are

constantly being sharply criticized by a number of

Member States for inefficiency, especially in solving

the Middle East problem. The ineffectiveness of the

OIC is partly explained by significant contradictions

in the positions of the Member States.

Speaking about the international Islamic

organizations that are part of the OIC system (the

Islamic Commission of the International Red

Crescent, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the

Islamic Organization for Education, Science and

Culture (ISESCO), the Islamic Federation of Sports

Solidarity, etc.) and other international organizations

of the Islamic world, the researchers note that these

structures often act as duplicates or even alternative

organizations of the UN system or other "universal"

multilateral associations. Even the "seven" of

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industrially developed Western countries in 1996

found an alternative within the framework of the

strategy of a "just Islamic order" developed by former

Turkish Prime Minister N. Erbakan - the "Islamic

Eight" (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh,

Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria). In this, according

to the researchers, one can see "the relative alternative

of the entire system of international organizations of

the Islamic world to similar systems of the West as

non-organic for Islam."

Some Islamic countries, especially those claiming

a leading role in the Muslim world, have created a

number of organizations that carry out activities at the

international level. One can also note the activities of

such organizations as the People's Islamic Conference

(Khartoum, Sudan), the World Islamic People's

Leadership (Tripoli, Libya), the World Islamic

Organization (Kuwait), the International

Organization of Islamic Appeal, the International

Organization of Islamic Women, the World

Assembly of Islamic Youth, etc.

According to I. Dobayev, such international

Islamic organizations, especially those operating

under the auspices of Saudi Arabia, are designed to

solve the problem of "the dominance of this state in

the world of Islam," therefore, their main goals are to

support Islamic legal and illegal non-governmental

organizations in various countries to ensure the

expansion of the influence of the KSA in the Islamic

world and in the international arena: "for this The

emphasis is on ensuring their support for the royal

regime of the KSA, in particular by consolidating the

efforts of Islamic organizations to fight leftist and any

other anti-Saudi ideologies".

It is emphasized that among the recipients of

Saudi aid carried out through the channels of LIM and

other non-governmental Islamic organizations and

institutions are the extremist Islamic Salvation Front

(Algeria), the Nahda movement (Tunisia) and Hamas

(Palestine), the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, etc.

In general, non-governmental international

organizations and foundations differ in their methods

of activity. On the one hand, there are purely

charitable cultural and educational organizations that

operate within the framework of the laws of their

countries, take a loyal position towards the existing

authorities, and consider any forms of extremism and

violence unacceptable to themselves.

However, along with them, there are non-

governmental Islamic organizations and foundations

that provide financial and other assistance to

associations, parties, movements and groups that are

in opposition to the governments of Muslim countries

or Western states, set themselves the task of either

overthrowing the existing state system and creating

an "Islamic state" in its place, or call on Muslims to

participate in "jihad", including armed, to achieve

certain political goals on a regional or global scale.

The influence and scope of the activities of such

radical structures in the Islamic world have increased

significantly in recent years, especially under the

influence of such events and processes as the

American war in Iraq, which ended in 2011 with the

withdrawal of US troops from this country, growing

tensions in the territories of the Palestinian Authority

after the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, the aggravation

of the situation in Afghanistan to the present time, as

well as the events of the so-called "Arab Spring" in

the Middle East and North Africa.

The study of non–non-governmental Islamic

organizations shows that their activities are

conditioned by many factors - the nature of relations

with the state, the degree of opposition to power

structures, political and ideological orientation, etc. In

this regard, it is of particular interest to study the

theoretical approaches of modern researchers to the

analysis of the main directions and content of the

activities of international Islamic organizations, both

intergovernmental and non-governmental, to identify

their political and ideological guidelines, goals and

objectives.

2.2 Theoretical Approaches in the

Study of Islamic International

Organizations

In modern science there is no single theory explaining

the laws of international relations and, accordingly,

the activities of their main subjects - states and

international organizations. Let's consider the most

well-known theoretical approaches used in modern

political science.

Liberalism (idealism) is an approach to the study

of international politics that was formed in the United

States in the period between the two World Wars. The

main idea of this direction is the thesis that

international relations can be regulated with the help

of moral, ethical and legal norms, and the goal of the

foreign policy of states should be the achievement of

peace and security. According to this approach,

conflicts and wars can be prevented or overcome by

spreading the values of democracy and creating a

system of collective security.

At the same time, an important role is assigned to

international organizations that contribute to the

development of mutually beneficial cooperation

between countries performing a peacekeeping

function. It is this model of international relations that

International Islamic Organizations as Subjects of International Relations

1535

the League of Nations, created after the First World

War, should embody. The rapid processes of

globalization have revived interest in liberalism,

transnational corporations (TNCs), financial groups

and non-governmental public organizations can be

participants in world politics.

The dominant approach during the Cold War and

the main opponent of liberalism was the school of

political realism, which has not lost its importance

today. This approach goes back to the ideas of N.

Machiavelli and T. Hobbes, who viewed politics as

the predominance of power, as well as state and

political interests over private ones. The main

provisions of political realism are the following:

- the idea of the anarchic and conflictual nature of

international relations, the interpretation of conflicts

and wars as the natural state of world politics, as well

as understanding the cause of world instability as a

consequence of the absence of a "supreme arbiter".

- States whose policies are based on national

interests are considered the main subjects of

international relations. Moreover, the interests of one

state are in conflict with the interests of others, since

each of them is interested in controlling and

possessing resources.

- in an effort to ensure their own national security,

states seek dominance and superiority of their

capabilities over other states. According to the views

of one of the founders of this trend, the American

political scientist G. Morgenthau, the essence of

world politics is the struggle of states for dominance,

the desire to preserve, strengthen or demonstrate it.

The possibility of dominance depends on the power

of the state, an indicator of which is its ability to

influence the behaviour of other states.

- The realistic possibility of ensuring peace lies in

finding a balance of power between States. The threat

of the use of force or mutual destruction allows us to

maintain stability in the world. Proponents of this

approach are sceptical about the possibility of

regulating international relations with the help of

legal norms and moral values, but do not deny the

need for their harmonization;

- achieving a balance of power involves building

up the military and economic power of states, and at

the international level, the creation of coalitions of

allies. Unipolarity as the dominance of one power is

considered to be the most unstable system, as it forces

states to take measures to restore the balance of

power.

From the point of view of political realism,

international organizations have influence and are

necessary only to the extent that it corresponds to the

interests of the member States of these organizations.

Supporters of the realistic approach believe that the

activities of intergovernmental organizations are

based on and contain only what the member States

"invest" in them, and by themselves, they are not able

to create any momentum that would go beyond the

foreign policy and national interests of these States.

There is also a school of transnationalism, whose

supporters believe that over time international

intergovernmental organizations, including Islamic

ones, will surpass states in the degree of influence on

international life. It is emphasized that the result of

the activities of intergovernmental organizations

cannot be reduced only to the totality of national

interests and foreign policy of their member States.

Because of this, the entire system of international

relations is being transformed, its transformation

from the sphere of establishing a balance of power

into a mechanism for identifying and solving global

problems. For example, there is an opinion that at

present the role and importance of such organizations

as the World Trade Organization (WTO), to a certain

extent NATO, as well as the UN, the OIC and some

others are approaching this, which sometimes play a

more prominent and largely decisive role in solving

some pressing security and development problems

than individual states.

The approach of the school of liberal

institutionalism seems to be more balanced, which

sees the activities of international organizations as not

so much a reflection as a continuation of the interests

of states. Liberal institutionalism views the subjects

of world politics as rational "players" who often face

the need to act in conditions of strategic uncertainty

and have limited options. The existence of

international organizations provides more

opportunities and resources to identify and overcome

problems, increases the awareness of Member States

and increases the effectiveness of their cooperation

and partnership.

As the American political scientist and supporter

of liberal institutionalism R. Axelrod notes,

cooperation relations can arise "in the world of

egoists" in the absence of a central government and a

single coercive force. At the same time, in the long

term, cooperation is always preferable to "betrayal",

which leads to the conclusion that "altruism" is a

priori a winning strategy. At the same time, repeated

multilateral interaction is necessary so that the results

of such cooperation have not instantaneous, but long-

term significance for the "players". States that are

involved in repeated interaction (within the

framework of the activities of the EU, UN structures,

OIC, etc.) and find themselves alternately winning

and losing, and if, one way or another, they are forced

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to re-engage in such interaction, will not be interested

in getting out of it and choosing "tactics unilateral

actions".

3 CONCLUSION

Thus, long-term and sufficiently strong cooperation

relationships are established within the framework of

common organizations. According to R. Axelrod,

"Today the most important problems facing humanity

are in the arena of international relations, where

independent, selfish states meet each other in a state

close to anarchy. Many of these problems take the

form of the so-called "prisoner's dilemma". Examples

may include an arms race, nuclear proliferation, crisis

settlement negotiations, and military escalation." His

advice to the leaders of states: "Do not give up first,

alternately cooperate and retreat," because in the real

world, "success is achieved not by the one who wins,

but by the one who seeks cooperation from others".

Liberal institutionalists emphasized such an

important aspect of multilateral institutions as

strengthening the transparency of the policies of their

member States and ensuring constant interaction

between their heads, during which various countries

have the opportunity to develop common positions

and approaches to solving urgent and priority

problems for them.

Under the influence of global changes in international

life, national and state interests themselves are

gradually being transformed. States have a need to

coordinate their activities, to receive technical,

economic, financial and other assistance and

information from international institutions. It can be

said that in the modern world, a state claiming any

influence in world politics and economy cannot do

without participation in international organizations,

although their role is different in different spheres of

global life (in the economic, social, cultural and

humanitarian spheres, in the field of security and

peacemaking).

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