THE CONCEPTUALISATION OF ISLAMIC UNITY IN THE AGE OF NATION-STATES: THE MUSLIM WORLD, THE CALIPHATE, AND THE ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION

Abstract

The global expansion of Western hegemony in the 19th century and thereafter engendered profound crises in the Muslim World, as it did in every region that established relations with the West. This article evaluates the political, economic, and cultural unity efforts in the post-colonial Muslim World, focusing on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It analyses the structural and external factors characterising the contemporary situation of the Muslim World within the context of civilisational interaction. The central argument of this analysis is that an interconnected Muslim World has always existed, but that its efforts towards Ittihad-i Islam (Islamic Unity) through the OIC in the post-Caliphate era and the age of nation-states have been constrained by local and global limitations. However, it further suggests that these constraints do not constitute a historical block and that overcoming them remains possible within the context of Muslim populations.