As one of the promoters of the idea of setting up an international Islamic body, Egypt had participated in post-WWI conferences leading to the inception of the so-called General Islamic Conference.

Meanwhile, as per a resolution adopted by the Rabat Summit held in Morocco on September 25, 1969 the Organization of the Islamic Conference was established in response to the burning by Israel of al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. Egypt was among the co-founders.

The idea

It could be said that numerous Egyptian scholars and politicians, e.g. Sheikh Mohammad Abdu, Mustafa Kamel and Sheikh Mohammad-al-Khidr Hussein were responsible for developing the idea of an international Islamic conference.

In the post-WWI period, Egypt participated in the Islamic conferences of 1924 and 1926 held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. In May 1926, Cairo hosted a General Islamic Conference in which 30 delegates attended representing Morocco, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Yemen, Iraq and the host country, Egypt. The participants called for the unity of the Islamic world.

Egypt also took part in the 1931 Jerusalem Conference which expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to overcome the Zionist conspiracy.

Egypt also sent a high-rank representative to the International Islamic Conference held in November 1938, which was also attended by parliamentary delegates from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Iran. A number of recommendations were made with a view to supporting the demands of the Palestinian people.

The call for an international Islamic body was renewed in August 1954 at a meeting in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The institutional charter of the so-called General Islamic Conference was drafted in 1956, which later emerged as the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs.

The rise of OIC

Egypt attended the 1st Islamic Summit in Rabat, Morocco on September 25, 1969, just over a month after the burning by Israel of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on August 21. Discussed at the time were ways of defending the sanctities of the Islamic world, namely Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock. Egypt also voted in favor of establishing a general secretariat responsible for coordinating the efforts of member-states.

Egypt participated in the foreign ministers conference held in March 1970 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where the General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference was established.

At the 2nd OIC ministerial meeting held in Karachi, Pakistan in December 1970, Egypt proposed the creation of an Islamic bank or a union of Islamic banks.

At the 3rd OIC ministerial meeting (Jeddah, February – March 1972), Egypt submitted its recommendations for an Islamic banks union, which were approved by the participants.

Egypt also participated in the committee responsible for drafting the OIC charter endorsed in March 1972.

Egypt submitted a number of proposals with respect to establishing OIC bodies, namely the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the International Islamic News Agency (IINA), the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and the Islamic States Broadcasting Organization (ISBO).

Egypt and OIC events

In its various contributions to Islamic events and activities, Egypt has always striven to achieve solutions to the pressing issues of the Muslim world.

5th Islamic Summit (Kuwait city, State of Kuwait - January 1987)

Egypt urged the establishment of a panel of experts to develop a national security system to deal with the various threats posed to Islamic countries across the world.

7th Islamic Summit (Casa Blanca, Kingdom of Morocco - December 1994)

Egypt addressed the conditions of the Islamic world. An integrated program of action was proposed highlighting the need:

• To maintain the self-power of Islamic communities with a view to preventing sedition and disintegration.
• To protect Islamic thought against misconceptions.
• To develop an Islamic code of ethics.
• To have relations between Islamic and non-Islamic countries managed on the basis that:

- They are not necessarily contradictory; Islam is against a clash of civilizations and greatly in favor of extending bridges of cooperation with other peoples.
- They should be based on peace and cooperation rather than on war and hostilities.

8th OIC Summit (Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran - December, 1997)

Egypt called for the settlement by peaceful means of all disputes between member states, for honoring the principle of good neighborliness, for consolidating understanding, and for coordinating all efforts with the purpose of putting an end to terrorism.

In his speech to the conference, President Hosni Mubarak said it was necessary:

• To root out illiteracy from the Islamic world.
• For the Islamic world to arm itself with the sciences.
• To achieve economic integration.
• To reconcile the supreme interests of the Islamic world with the interests of individual countries.

International Islamic Conference (Cairo – Arab Republic of Egypt, July 1998)

Participants discussed ways of overcoming obstacles to the development and progress of Arab and Islamic countries. Israeli attempts to redraw the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem were denounced and a channel of communication was opened between the International Islamic Council for Da'wah and Relief and the Vatican to prevent the driving of wedges between Muslims and the followers of other faiths which they honor and respect.

2nd meeting of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (Cairo – Arab Republic of Egypt, June 2000)

Egypt called for a cooperation mechanism to be set up, for the Jerusalem Committee established in 1975 with the purpose of thwarting Israel's attempts at Judaizing the holy city to be revived, and for a clear vision to be developed of how to shed misconceptions about Islam and present it in its true color to the West.

The Emergency Foreign Ministers Conference (May 2001, Doha – State of Qatar)

Egypt underlined that a fair solution of the Palestinian question should be based on the agreed terms of reference, represented in the United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolution 242 and the land-for-peace formula.

9th OIC Summit (Doha, State of Qatar – November 2000)

Egypt submitted three proposals which were endorsed by the summit:

• Increasing the resources of both the Intifada and the Jerusalem funds.
• Making plans for Arab East Jerusalem to become the capital of the future state of Palestine.
• Raising funds to support the orphaned and the injured.

32nd Islamic Foreign Ministers' Conference (Sanaa, Republic of Yemen – June 2005)

Egypt tabled a draft-resolution with the purpose of averting the effects of natural disasters which strike a number of Islamic countries. The draft proposes that a fund be established in the spirit of solidarity to that end.

Egypt highlighted that the only way to achieving comprehensive development is by increasing the volume of trade between Islamic countries, penetrating international markets and acquiring advanced technology.

3rd Extraordinary OIC Summit (Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, December 2005)

Egypt called for achieving economic cooperation within Islamic countries and with the outside world. The need was also stressed of capitalizing on the progress of the age while upholding the identity and tenets of Islam. Egypt further pushed for developing the OIC.

11th OIC Summit (Dakar, Republic of Senegal – March 2008)

Egypt drafted a resolution denouncing all forms of contempt against religion and condemning abuse of religious symbols. The resolution urged the issuance by the UN Human Rights Commission of an instrument incriminating and banning all acts of contempt against religion and safeguarding the right to free expression of opinion provided that other people's rights and freedoms are protected.

In his speech to the conference, President Hosni Mubarak underlined the fact that human resource development stands the cornerstone to achieving Islamic progress and advancement.

The summit unanimously agreed to Egypt's proposal to host the 12th summit in 2011. Egypt will also be President of OIC in the period from 2011 to 2014.

Joint Islamic action

Egypt believes the Islamic nation faces numerous challenges including:
• Putting the Islamic house in order, which calls for a proper understanding of the tenets of Islam
• Changing the behavioral patterns, governing relations of Muslims with the outside world.

In his speech to the 8th OIC Summit (Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran - December, 1997), President Hosni Mubarak said it was necessary:

• To root out illiteracy from the Islamic world.
• For the Islamic world, to arm itself with knowledge.
• To achieve economic integration.
• To reconcile the supreme interests of the Islamic world with the interests of individual countries.

Statement of President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak to the Eleventh Summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 14 March, 2008

Statements of the Foreign Minister