The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), founded in 1969 in the aftermath of the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, was meant to serve as the collective voice of the Muslim world. With 57 member states, it is the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations. Yet, more than five decades later, the OIC remains a symbol of unfulfilled promises, hollow statements, and political paralysis.
From Gaza to Kashmir, from Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to the Uighurs in China, and from repeated episodes of Islamophobic attacks in the West to the publication of blasphemous cartoons—whenever the Muslim world has cried out for justice and solidarity, the OIC has responded with little more than verbal condemnations and watered-down resolutions. On Gaza in particular, while children are being massacred and entire neighborhoods are reduced to rubble, the OIC’s actions have remained timid, divided, and largely symbolic. Instead of leading a unified diplomatic offensive or initiating humanitarian interventions, it has issued apologetic statements, seemingly more worried about offending Western sensibilities than defending Muslim lives.
This is not what the founders of the OIC envisioned. It was supposed to be a platform to protect Muslim sanctities, defend Muslim nations under occupation or oppression, and promote political and economic cooperation among Islamic countries. Sadly, it has become a forum for photo-ops, empty rhetoric, and bureaucratic formalities.
The inability of the OIC to act decisively is not due to a lack of capacity, but a lack of will. Member states are deeply divided—politically, ideologically, and economically. Many are more interested in pleasing their Western patrons than in supporting their fellow Muslim nations. The OIC’s headquarters in Jeddah may still hold symbolic value, but it has lost moral authority in the eyes of the Muslim youth, activists, and even ordinary citizens across the world who see the suffering of their brothers and sisters go unanswered.
If the OIC cannot fulfill its mandate, it is time to seriously consider whether it should continue to exist in its current form. A bold alternative must be explored. A new bloc—comprising sincere, independent, and capable Muslim countries like Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, and even Afghanistan—could be formed. This new organization should not be bogged down by bureaucracy but must be built on a clear charter of action, unity, and resistance against oppression.
Such a grouping could speak with one voice on international platforms, create joint economic projects, pool defense resources, and coordinate responses to global Islamophobia. Most importantly, it would restore a sense of dignity and strength to a fragmented Muslim world desperately in need of leadership.
Muslims around the world are watching, and they are losing faith—not just in their leaders, but in institutions like the OIC that were supposed to protect their interests. It is time to either activate the OIC into a true force of unity and action, or accept its irrelevance and build something new. The suffering of the Ummah demands no less.
