United Nations: Concerns and Demands of the Muslim World

Why Is the Muslim World Powerless in the United Nations?

The initial purpose of the United Nations was to find solutions to conflicts between nations and prevent war. However, on December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly, by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and making its adherence mandatory for all countries, also included reform and intervention in the world's political and social systems within its purview. Since then, alongside preventing war between nations, overseeing the political and social systems of countries worldwide has been considered a responsibility of the United Nations, and the UN continuously plays a role in this regard.

It is often said that the United Nations is an international organization and that decisions adopted unanimously or by majority vote are considered "international treaties." However, as a student of history and society, I disagree with this. The decisions that the United Nations Security Council seeks to enforce globally are, in fact, implemented. Countries that violate these decisions are punished, and some are even subjected to military intervention and forcibly made to accept the decisions of the United Nations. Therefore, the Declaration of Human Rights and other decisions of the United Nations are not merely "treaties" but have become "international law." Consequently, the United Nations itself is not just an international organization but functions as a world government through which the five countries holding veto power in the Security Council are effectively ruling the entire world.

Almost all countries within the Islamic world are members of the United Nations and participate in its affairs. However, the ideologically aware and thoughtful segments of the Islamic world clearly harbor reservations:

• In December 1948, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a unified global forum of Muslim countries did not exist. The Ottoman Caliphate had dissolved prior to this, and no comparable global entity had emerged to succeed it, a situation that continues to the present day. At that time, the majority of Muslim-majority countries were not independent, existing instead as colonies of various imperial powers. Consequently, the Islamic world lacked effective representation in the General Assembly. Therefore, asserting that the Islamic world was an equal participant in the formation of the United Nations, the establishment of its system, and the drafting of its treaties is inaccurate and unfair.
• The Islamic world lacks representation in the decision-making and enforcement bodies of the United Nations, and no Muslim-majority country is among the five permanent members holding veto power. Consequently, the Islamic world is excluded from the primary decision-making and enforcement processes of the United Nations, and its role is largely limited to accepting the decisions of these five major global powers.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was formulated considering the internal conflicts of Western countries and the historical context of the French Revolution; consequently, many of its articles are in conflict with the injunctions and laws of Islamic Sharia. In practical terms, if Muslim countries and governments were to accept the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights verbatim, they would be compelled to disregard numerous commands from the Quran and Sunnah, as well as hundreds of regulations within Islamic Sharia. Furthermore, even if the ruling classes in Muslim countries were inclined to such a renunciation, public opinion across numerous Muslim nations over the past three-quarters of a century has consistently demonstrated, through democratic and political expressions, a resolute unwillingness to abandon the commands and laws of the Quran and Sunnah, and the role of religion in state and governmental affairs.
• The United Nations, the champion of human rights, justice, and equality, should rightly be expected to engage with nations struggling to maintain independence or to liberate themselves from foreign domination. The record of the past indicates that the United Nations has failed to live up to these expectations of justice and human rights. Moreover, the current global context is that this conflict between Western countries and the Islamic world has taken the form of a clear confrontation, in which the West wants to maintain its dominance over the Islamic world, while the Islamic world is engaged in a struggle to get rid of it, and in this conflict, the goals and objectives of Western countries seem to be determined as:
• Muslim countries should not be allowed to move towards ideological and political unity.
• Nuclear technology and the most advanced military resources should be kept out of the reach of Muslim countries.
• By trapping Muslim countries' economies in the name of aid and loans, they should be prevented from achieving economic self-sufficiency.
• Muslim rulers who protect Western interests should be protected at all costs, and the ideological forces in Muslim countries should be labeled as "fundamentalists" and prevented from reaching power under all circumstances.
• The religious and cultural continuity of the Islamic world should be declared contradictory to alleged "human rights," and social rebellion against it should be encouraged.
• A century ago, Israel did not exist on the world map, and Palestine was a province of the Ottoman Empire. After dismantling the Ottoman Caliphate during World War I, Britain occupied Palestine and provided facilities for Jews from around the world to immigrate and settle in Palestine, until a significant number of Jews had settled in Palestine under British encouragement and protection. Then, through the United Nations, recognizing Palestine as Jew homeland provided justification for the establishment of a part of Palestine as a Jewish state under the name of Israel. In its resolution (No. 181/November 29, 1947), the United Nations decided on the principle of two separate states, Israeli and Palestinian, by dividing Palestine into two parts and also demarcating their borders. However, not only has the Palestinian state not yet been established as a sovereign country, but Israel has also occupied many more Palestinian territories through repeated armed aggression. By launching military offensives in 1949 and 1967, it annexed many Palestinian areas to its occupied territories. Millions of Palestinians became refugees as a result of this aggression and were displaced in camps. Palestinians began an armed struggle to protect their homeland and reclaim the occupied territories, but Israel's military power and the immense power of the United States behind it prevented the Palestinian liberation struggle from progressing. In this regard as well, the role of the United Nations, from the establishment of the Israeli state to the present day, has not gone beyond mere rhetoric.
• The Kashmiri people are continuously engaged in struggle on both political and military fronts to fulfill the United Nations' promise of allowing them to decide their own fate through a referendum under the right to self-determination, and to obtain this recognized legitimate right. Thousands of young people have sacrificed their lives, and now a fourth generation is seen continuing this struggle. However, the promises of the United Nations and global public opinion remain frozen in the Security Council's freezer. The same UN Security Council that demonstrated practical progress in conducting public referendums in East Timor and South Sudan, leading to their establishment as separate states, shows no interest in granting the Kashmiri people their right to a free referendum. Global leaders are concerned that granting this right to the Kashmiri people will increase the tendency for society to be divided on religious grounds, while the division of East Timor and South Sudan occurred under the supervision of these same global leaders on religious grounds, and these two states became part of the world map based on a Christian majority.

This is the eighth decade since the establishment of the United Nations, but an examination of its practical role reveals nothing to a Muslim except that this global forum has blocked the path to the implementation of Islam in the Islamic world through international treaties, has failed to resolve, or rather, to put it more clearly, has "succeeded in not resolving" serious issues like Palestine and Kashmir, and this international platform has become the biggest weapon for the onslaught of Western thought and philosophy and the political dominance of the veto-wielding countries. A realistic analysis of the UN's role in this struggle reveals that, despite all claims of human rights, equality among nations, freedom, and global justice, the United Nations appears to be a complete ally, even a tool, of Western colonialism in this struggle, and all this effort seems to be aimed at keeping the Islamic world dependent on the West and perpetuating Western political and economic dominance over Muslim countries.

How Can the United Nations Do Justice to the Muslim World?

• In the organizational structure of the United Nations and among the permanent members of the Security Council with veto power, there is no representation for a quarter of the world's population, the Islamic world; in fact, it is practically kept away from it. Therefore, to restore justice and balance in the UN system, it is necessary that the Muslim Ummah be given representation in the permanent membership of the Security Council with veto power, in proportion to its total population in the world.
• The Charter of Human Rights has, unfortunately, overlooked the beliefs, cultural identity, and traditions of the Muslim world. Consequently, several articles within the current charter conflict with Islamic teachings and laws. As a result of this charter, the beliefs, religious commands, and cultural traditions of Muslims are consistently being disregarded. It is also noteworthy that while the United Nations champions religious freedom, the right of individuals to practice their own religion, and the protection of regional cultures, it arguably lacks the authority to define the scope of any religion or to prevent religious individuals from adhering to certain aspects of their faith. Furthermore, it seems unjustified for the UN to disregard regional cultures in the name of a human rights charter and impose a singular cultural philosophy globally. Therefore, a revision of this charter in this regard has become indispensable.
• The monopoly held by a few countries over the right to develop military technology and the most advanced weaponry, coupled with the prohibition of this for the majority of other nations, stands in opposition to the principle of equality among nations. The Muslim world is particularly affected by this situation. Therefore, it has become necessary to revise this monopolistic, unequal, and unjust framework. The laws and regulations that perpetuate a few countries' control over the global balance of power must be abolished, and a new system founded on the principle of equality should be established.
• The United Nations should play its role in liberating Palestine from Israeli occupation and aggression, however, achieving this goal likely hinges on finding a way to revise the organizational structure of the United Nations and remove it from the control of a few influential countries.
• Regarding Kashmir, the only viable solution appears to be for the United Nations to grant the Kashmiri people the independent right to a plebiscite, in accordance with its own resolutions. Furthermore, the UN should arrange for the implementation of the General Assembly's decision by conducting a referendum under its direct supervision. Until this occurs, the struggle of the Kashmiri people will persist, and it is the responsibility of every fair-minded person globally to support their cause.
• The current system, procedures, and policies of the United Nations, rather than considering and respecting the interests, needs, and urgent requirements of poor, backward, underdeveloped, and developing nations worldwide, have unfortunately become the protector and guardian of the monopolistic and exploitative interests of the wealthiest and most developed nations. Therefore, it has become necessary to specifically engage the poor and backward countries and to review the entire system in light of their proposals and recommendations.

Time for Action: Reform or Disengagement?

In this context, it is the responsibility of Muslim governments, especially the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to recognize their duties and fulfill the obligation of properly representing Islam and the Islamic world. This includes demanding a review of the organizational structure of the United Nations and the international treaties concluded under its auspices. Furthermore, if, after seven decades, no viable path to address these reservations is apparent, then the only remaining course for the collective benefit of the Islamic world is to break free from this unilateral dominance and monopoly of power. We believe that the time has come for the leaders of the Muslim world to act realistically and seriously consider whether to actively strive to establish balance within the United Nations system. If this proves impossible, then finding a viable way to disengage from it becomes necessary.