ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical overview of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) approach to human rights in general and freedom of expression. It explains what historical circumstances paved the way for the first UN resolution in 1999 and how discourses on free speech and religion have emerged and evolved within the OIC. The chapter examines the OIC’s key documents in relation to human rights and free speech. It demonstrates that the seeds of the OIC’s contemporary discursive strategy were sown in the period from the late 1970s. The OIC’s proclaimed solidarity with Islamic minorities outside the Muslim world has been relative to and constrained by other strategic considerations. Despite religious criteria as a common denominator, the OIC’s internal diversity with regard to geography, size, culture, Islamic denominations, politics and economy has entailed profound internal divisions. OIC’s Islamic absolutism was vividly illustrated during the Rushdie affair, when the OIC demanded worldwide respect for its holy symbols.
