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International

A Question of Leadership

A major Muslim country needs to have a permanent seat in the United
Nations Security Council so that it can ably represent
the problems of the Muslim Ummah.

By Adeel Ahmed | November 2020

leadership

The Ottoman Empire used to be one of the greatest dynasties that stretched over large swathes of Europe, Africa and Asia and was a custodian of the three holiest places of Islam (Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem). The Osmani rulers proclaimed themselves as Caliphs and they deserved to be called true representatives of the Muslim world. Even the Mughal emperors and other rulers of South Asia, including Tipu Sultan, respected the Osmani rulers and the Caliph.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a general in the Ottoman army defeated the British and allied forces at the battle of Gallipoli during World War I and rose to lead modern Turkey. He fashioned Turkey as a secular republic and abolished the centuries old institution of the Caliphate. He managed to save Istanbul and the sovereignty of the shrinking Ottoman Empire after World War I. His services were lauded and hailed by most of the prominent Muslim figures of that time all over the world.

King Abdul Aziz, Ibn Saud, a tribal leader of Hijaz (Arabia) who conquered several territories, including the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah of the former Ottoman Empire and founded Saudi Arabia in 1932, tried to lead the Muslim world after the abolishment of Caliphate. He established the World Muslim Congress (Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami) in 1926 in Makkah to provide a unified forum to the Ummah, but the forum became victim of the rivalry between Ibn Saud and King Fuad of Egypt, as both were aspirants to leadership of the Muslim World.

Soon after its creation, Pakistan also attempted to unify the Muslim world by reviving Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami and held the World Muslim Congress 1951 meeting in Karachi. Pakistan’s efforts were also in vain. The Convention Centre of the World Muslim Congress on University Road in Karachi, which was built for meetings of Muslim leaders, is now rented for marriages and parties.

In 1952 Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt emerged as a hero of the Muslim world. He was bold and charismatic and introduced the ideology of Arab socialism. Nasser proposed Pan Arab unity, nationalised the Suez Canal, defeated the British and Israeli army on the Suez Canal Issue and, as a result, Anthony Eden, the than Prime Minister of Britain, who engineered the Suez operation, had to resign from office. The Nasser ideology against western imperialism received validation from the Arab world. Nasser was also a strong critic of rigid Saudi religious beliefs and never hesitated to express his disparagement over Saudi Arabia as being retrogressive about social reforms.

In 1967, the scale of the Arab coalition (Syria, Jordan and Egypt) defeat against Israel seriously damaged Nasser’s persona and his politics. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, who took over the reins of the kingdom in 1964, availed the opportunity to replace Nasser and strived hard to lead the Muslim world. He established the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) in 1969 for Muslim unity and increased Saudi Arabia’s orbit even outside the Arab world. He supported Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who introduced the slogan of Islamic socialism and presented himself as a torch-bearer of the modern Muslim world. King Faisal also took a hard line on the Palestinian issue and backed Yasser Arafat and the PLO. He also tried to modernise Saudi Arabia by introducing a number of social reforms domestically. But after his murder and attack on Masjid al Haram in Makkah in 1979, most of the reforms were reversed. As a custodian of the two holiest places of Islam and a strong economy, which was highly reliant on oil, Saudi Arabia maintained its status as a leader of the Muslim world.

The Convention Centre of the World Muslim Congress in Karachi is now rented for marriages and parties.

However, in today’s fast changing-world Saudi Arabia and its allies who used to be confronted by a Shia radical theocratic Iran, have now been facing a number of other challenges. The 2010 Arab Spring posed a serious threat to the Gulf regimes. Though, rich Gulf states managed to curb the movement by giving more freedom and monetary benefits to their people, but they realised the fact that their petroleum export-dominated economies were too fragile. The world was adopting alternative sources of energy and the Covid-19 pandemic further jolted their economies from the core. To improve their economies, these countries now need to impose taxes and, in such circumstances, it would be tough to again experience another any movement like the Arab Spring.

T0 strengthen their economies, these regimes are now trying to find more trading partners like India, China and Israel. The UAE and Bahrain have signed the USA-brokered Abraham Accords and have recognized Israel. Saudi Arabia and UAE are also planning to increase their trade volume with India by up to $100 billion. This is one of the reasons that both these countries have nothing but a cold shoulder for issues like Kashmir and Palestine. This economics-dominated diplomacy of the Gulf countries is creating distances between them and other Muslim states. Pakistan has clearly expressed its despondency over the lack of interest of Saudi Arabia and the OIC on the Kashmir issue. Malaysia and Qatar have joined Turkey’s camp in supporting the Kashmir issue. Iran is consolidating its own position in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is a staunch supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkey, which was out of the contest for Muslim leadership after the fall of the Ottoman Empire decades ago, has re-entered the arena, challenging Saudi hegemony and trying to entice Islamic countries, including Pakistan, to break away from the Saudi nexus. Turkey supports Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and has expressed complete solidarity with the people of Kashmir. However, because of its weak economy, Pakistan cannot afford to offend Saudi Arabia by joining Turkey’s camp. Erdogan is also a strong advocate of Palestinian rights and has denounced the Abraham Accords.

In Libya, Turkey and its Gulf ally Qatar support the Government of National Accord, GNA. Tripoli, Saudi Arabia and the UAE support the Tobruk-based rival forces of the eastern region, led by Khalifa Haftar, a 75-year-old warlord. To exploit the natural resources of the East Mediterranean, Turkey has struck a maritime deal with the GNA and has developed an exclusive economic zone at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

Unfortunately, in the past decades, the problems of the Muslim world have remained unattended. There is no forum where the plight of the Palestinians and the Kashmiris can be effectively taken up. Saudi Arabia and its allied Gulf countries need to realize that huge oil resources or being a caretaker of the holiest Muslim places does not suffice to lead the Ummah. There are more than fifty Islamic countries in the world but unfortunately, there is no representation of the Islamic country in the UN Security Council. With the support of Islamic countries, if a strong Turkey manages to win membership of the UN Security Council, the Muslims would be in a better position to safeguard the interests of the Muslim world.

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