JP/4/BANYU

World Islamic body must reject harboring of terrorists

By Anak Agung Banyu Perwita

ADELAIDE, Australia (JP): Debate is growing following the U.S.'s controversial plan of "retaliation" against terrorists.

The Muslim world is also divided, with those saying the U.S. must be more cautious and others implying support for the prime suspect, Osama bin Laden, and his suspected protector, Afghanistan.

What role can the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) play as the Islamic-based inter-regional organization?

The OIC evolved from the ideals of "Pan Islamism", to promote solidarity and unity of the Islamic ummah (community). In the post World War II era, decolonization, particularly in Asia and Africa, provided the setting for an Islamic forum.

For many newly independent Muslim countries, Islam has provided "a strong moral force and source of identity" vis-a-vis their ex-colonial masters. Islam provided a vital driving force in their independence struggle, including in Indonesia.

The experiences of colonialism pushed various Islamic countries toward closer cooperation.

The OIC now does not aim to restore Islamic unity as the pan -Islamic movement of the 19th century did, nor is it an indication of the desire to re-establish the traditional Islamic system of external relations. Instead, it is a desire to cooperate as an Islamic bloc within the community of nations.

The history of this "neo-pan Islamism" recorded a crucial milestone when Pakistan took the initiative and convened the conference called the Mu'tamar al-Alam al Islami in 1949, followed by other conferences in 1951.

The main goal of the conference was to establish a commonwealth of Muslim nations which envisaged Islamic unity and cooperation leading to the formation of a third bloc comprising Muslim states.

This conference's goal has never been achieved, particularly due to changes in the foreign policy of some Arab countries and Pakistan when they entered an alliance with the West under the military umbrella of the United States.

Again, the main objectives of the OIC, established in 1969, could not be completely achieved due to some major internal differences among the member states. On one hand, Egypt, for instance, was too preoccupied with its "pan Arabism" in its foreign policy, while on the other, Saudi Arabia emphasized Islamic orientation in its foreign policy.

The number of participating states in the OIC increased dramatically in 1990s, yet its institutionalization as a modern international organization has not progressed smoothly. This has mainly been due to the egos and indifference of some member states, and the lack of common political, economic, social and cultural factors.

Despite this wide diversity, as the scholar John O. Oval has pointed out, the "OIC has become a global formal network of official linkages among states in which the majority of the population is Muslim" and is the most significant institution of global political Islam.

The formation of the OIC reflected a strong political response from the Islamic world to an emotional religious issue. As a result, the political value of Islamic solidarity among members has shaped the OIC's development. This can clearly be seen from the objectives and the principles of its Charter, which states that the promotion of Islamic solidarity among the members is its first priority.

Yet, it is quite difficult for all the members to cooperate when they have to face the West.

In the post-Cold War era, Islam has often been associated with terrorism. The sharp increase in the threat of "Islamic fundamentalism" has been one of the important issues that the OIC has had to solve. Even though this issue was a priority of its seventh summit in Casablanca, Morocco, in December 1994, the OIC seemed to be incapable of dealing with terrorism.

To improve the tarnished image of Islam, the OIC members should first increase its internal cohesion and erase the Arab and non-Arab axis which has weakened its internal unity.

Second, they should agree to review an unprecedented plan to stop the export of violence which many relate to "fundamentalists". The OIC needs to call on members to refuse finance or support for "terrorist acts" and to make sure that their territory is not used by violent groups to plan or carry out such acts.

More specifically, the OIC members should be asked not to host, train, arm, finance or provide facilities for violent groups claiming to represent Islam. The OIC needs to stress its significance in restoring and cleaning up Islam's image and its position in relation to the West and emphasize that Islam is not the enemy of the Western world.

Only by taking these options can the OIC maintain its relevance in a rapidly changing map of world politics.

The writer is a Ph.D candidate at the Asian Studies Department of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and a lecturer of international relations at the Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, West Java.