The Muslim World League

The Muslim World League is a Mecca-based international non-governmental organisation, founded in 1962 to promote Islamic unity, propagation and charitable work across the world.

At a glance

Established in 1962 and headquartered in Mecca, the League (Rābiṭat al-ʿĀlam al-Islāmī) is a non-governmental body — distinct from the intergovernmental OIC — that has worked in religious outreach (daʿwa), education, relief and the coordination of Muslim communities, particularly minorities living outside Muslim-majority states. It operates its own Islamic Fiqh Academy, convenes scholarly conferences, and funds mosques, publications and humanitarian projects.

Closely associated with Saudi Arabia, the League has been an instrument of religious diplomacy as well as charity, and in recent years its leadership has emphasised themes of moderation, interfaith dialogue and coexistence, most visibly through documents such as the 2019 Charter of Makkah. As with any body of its reach, its role and orientation have been read differently by different observers.

The League illustrates the non-governmental side of transnational Islamic organisation, working alongside — and sometimes overlapping with — the intergovernmental institutions that dominate this section.

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Curated reference on Islamic belief and thought. On matters where traditions differ, positions are attributed rather than adjudicated; verify points of doctrine with qualified scholars.