Pledges of OIC's Dakar summit
Monday, 17 March 2008
The 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has concluded its 11th Summit in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. The motto of the just concluded OIC Summit was 'Islam in the 21st century'. The theme of the present summit has its root in the recent rise of radical, political Islam in different countries of the world and its face-off with the dominant powers of the world and their political-cultural establishments. Some western thinkers have termed this phenomenon as clash of civilizations. Which is why, the OIC after its two-day deliberations has wrapped up the summit with a declaration called 'Dakar declaration' in which Islamic nations have pledged to launch a civilisational dialogue with the representatives of the religion and culture of the Western world.
But whatever is the content of the text of the Dakar declaration or any other declaration made during every summit since this organization of Muslim countries began its journey from Rabat Summit in 1969, themes with which the summits began and the declaration with which they closed more often than not remained a mere exercise in oratory and paper work. It is hoped that this time the words written in the Dakar declaration will be matched with actions with a view to forging greater solidarity among the 1.3 billion people that this Islamic platform represents.
Apart from its promises to bring to the fore the true face of Islam vis-à-vis the extremism that is raging across the length and the breadth of the world in the name of Islam and pledges to engage other nations more proactively in pursuit of world peace and stability as well as ensure that the problem of poverty and all other syndromes of backwardness plaguing the Muslim nations can be addressed, the Dakar declaration has taken some very important steps. Mention has to be made here of the renewed pledge by the leaders to put money into the special "Islamic Solidarity Fund" set up within the Islamic Development Bank (IBD) with US$10 billion while welcoming the contributions announced in the Senegalese capital.
The Chief Adviser to the incumbent caretaker government has in his speech at the Dakar summit of OIC has also called for pooling resources of the Muslim countries to help the neediest nations among them in their fight against backwardness and poverty. It is therefore hoped the Islamic Solidarity Fund so conceived would be used in aid of the poor Muslim nations in Africa and Asia. Such help extended to the needy Islamic brethren by the rich members of the Islamic forum will serve the cause of Ummah better than all other pledges towards Islamic solidarity made at the Dakar summit.
The proposition of forming an Islamic Common Market is another grand idea to increase prosperity and thereby forge greater unity and understanding among the Muslim countries.
In this connection, it needs mentioning that poverty, deprivation and extremism go hand in hand. The extremists belonging to Islamic faith are at the moment supplying the West with the propaganda material to demonise Islam.
The upshot of this negative imaging is that Muslims in general are becoming more defensive, a situation that is helping the protagonists of violence to draw more sympathy from the Muslim masses. To break this vicious circle, the Islamic Ummah needs to look inward for breaking the vicious circle. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Somalia, one would find the same pattern working behind the rise in extremism.
So, it is not hard to address this problem rooted in poverty with the help of vast resources the Muslim countries are blessed with both in terms of material and human resources. What is necessary is the will to perform that miracle.
But whatever is the content of the text of the Dakar declaration or any other declaration made during every summit since this organization of Muslim countries began its journey from Rabat Summit in 1969, themes with which the summits began and the declaration with which they closed more often than not remained a mere exercise in oratory and paper work. It is hoped that this time the words written in the Dakar declaration will be matched with actions with a view to forging greater solidarity among the 1.3 billion people that this Islamic platform represents.
Apart from its promises to bring to the fore the true face of Islam vis-à-vis the extremism that is raging across the length and the breadth of the world in the name of Islam and pledges to engage other nations more proactively in pursuit of world peace and stability as well as ensure that the problem of poverty and all other syndromes of backwardness plaguing the Muslim nations can be addressed, the Dakar declaration has taken some very important steps. Mention has to be made here of the renewed pledge by the leaders to put money into the special "Islamic Solidarity Fund" set up within the Islamic Development Bank (IBD) with US$10 billion while welcoming the contributions announced in the Senegalese capital.
The Chief Adviser to the incumbent caretaker government has in his speech at the Dakar summit of OIC has also called for pooling resources of the Muslim countries to help the neediest nations among them in their fight against backwardness and poverty. It is therefore hoped the Islamic Solidarity Fund so conceived would be used in aid of the poor Muslim nations in Africa and Asia. Such help extended to the needy Islamic brethren by the rich members of the Islamic forum will serve the cause of Ummah better than all other pledges towards Islamic solidarity made at the Dakar summit.
The proposition of forming an Islamic Common Market is another grand idea to increase prosperity and thereby forge greater unity and understanding among the Muslim countries.
In this connection, it needs mentioning that poverty, deprivation and extremism go hand in hand. The extremists belonging to Islamic faith are at the moment supplying the West with the propaganda material to demonise Islam.
The upshot of this negative imaging is that Muslims in general are becoming more defensive, a situation that is helping the protagonists of violence to draw more sympathy from the Muslim masses. To break this vicious circle, the Islamic Ummah needs to look inward for breaking the vicious circle. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Somalia, one would find the same pattern working behind the rise in extremism.
So, it is not hard to address this problem rooted in poverty with the help of vast resources the Muslim countries are blessed with both in terms of material and human resources. What is necessary is the will to perform that miracle.