Despite all the hurdles that it has faced and changing international conditions, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has proved its usefulness, according to a statement issued by the Secretariat General in Jeddah on the occasion of the forty-first anniversary of its establishment. A source told Saudi Gazette that through its General Secretariat and with the cooperation of its subsidiary organs, specialized and affiliated institutions, the OIC has been able to unite Muslims' positions, strengthen Islamic solidarity and understanding and develop the commonalities between them. The statement said that the OIC has entered its fifth decade and its Charter has been amended with the development of the Ten-Year Program of Action. “The OIC looks into the future with considerable confidence to discharge the duties entrusted to it in the service of the Islamic world and in defense of the interests of Islam and Muslims,” it stressed. “The Organization has spared no effort in giving attention to the issues of the Muslim minorities spread all over the world, defending their legitimate rights,” said the statement, which recalled the outstanding efforts made by the founders, in particular the late King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud who, “through his wisdom and clairvoyance, knew that the Muslim world was in dire need of an Islamic organization to bring together the Muslims and serve as a platform for them to discuss, consult and coordinate positions and efforts on momentous issues of the Islamic world”. The OIC statement explained that in the face of the successive changes that “our contemporary world has witnessed and the challenges it faces,” the Makkah Extraordinary Summit convened by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in 2005 was a response to various calls to address these challenges. The summit was a promising starting point for joint Islamic action, as it was characterized by a practical, robust, scientific, workable, moderate and modern approach. The Ten-Year Program of Action adopted by that Summit focused at the outset on arranging internal Islamic affairs concerning reform, good governance, economic and commercial cooperation and a call for true commitment to the principle of Islamic solidarity in action among people of the same Ummah. The OIC statement recalled that the Eleventh Islamic Summit, held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, in March 2008, ratified the new Charter which became a basis for the OIC's future Islamic work to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The new Charter has provisions for spreading and safeguarding Islamic teachings and values based on moderation and tolerance and on a desire to highlight and defend the true image of Islam. It also encourages dialogue among civilizations and religions. The OIC also took on the task of correcting erroneous notions about Islam and Muslims, even as growing Islamophobia constitutes one of the major sources of concern for the Organization. The OIC has intensified efforts to prevent incitement of hatred and discrimination against Muslims and has taken effective measures to confront defamation of religions and stereotyping of people on the basis of religion, creed or race. The statement highlighted the fact that over the past years, the number of Member States has increased from twenty-five at the time of the Organization's founding, to fifty-seven, thus making the OIC the second largest international organization after the United Nations. “Thanks to the efforts of the OIC Secretary General, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, since his election in 2005, the OIC has gained growing visibility in the international scene, as the voice which represents and speaks for the Muslim world,” the statement said, and added: “There is no greater demonstration of this than the growing number of states wishing to become observers in the Organization or trying to develop special relations with it.”
