The Islamic Solidarity Games (Arabic: ألعاب التضامن الإسلامي) is a multinational, multi-sport event. The Games involve the elite athletes of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation who compete in a variety of sports. The Solidarity Games were initially created to strengthen Islamic camaraderie and reinforce the values of Islam, primarily to the youth.^[1] The Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF) and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the organization that is responsible for the direction and control of the Islamic Solidarity Games.^[2] The ISSF strives to improve Islamic solidarity, promote Islamic identity in sports and help reduce discrimination toward Muslims.^[1]

History

The original idea for the Solidarity Games comes from Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, during the Third Islamic Summit in 1981.^[1] The first Solidarity games was held in 2005 in Saudi Arabia and there are currently 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.^[3] In 2005, the games were male-only with 7,000 athletes from fifty-four countries competing in thirteen different sports.^[4] Females are now allowed to participate in the games but compete on different days than men.^[5] Non-Muslim citizens in the member countries are also allowed to take part in the Games. It was said to have the most participants for a sporting event aside from the Olympic Games.^[1]

Opening ceremony of the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey

A second event, originally scheduled to take place in October 2009 in Iran, and later rescheduled for April 2010, was canceled after a dispute arose between Iran and the Arab World over the use of the term Persian Gulf in logos for the Games, as some countries in the Arab world use the term "Arabian Gulf" instead. Dispute over the name has been a recurring source of disharmony between Arab states and Iran.^[6] The latest edition took place in Baku, on 12–22 May 2017.^[7][8]

With the level of political fragmentation, the deficiencies in economic development in many Muslim countries, and the financial cost of the Islamic Solidarity games, the longevity of the games will be a big challenge.^[1]

‌The 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games were the 5th edition of the event. It was the first time that the event was organised by the Turkish Olympic Committee. Scheduled to take place in 2021, the event was postponed to be held in 2022, because the original dates were coinciding with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games will be the first ever not to be hosted in a Muslim majority country. The elected host city, Yaoundé, is the capital of Cameroon, where the Christian population exceeds 70% of the population, while around 25% is Muslim. Cameroon is a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Editions

2005

2010

2013

2017

2022

2025

Islamic Solidarity Games Host

Year	Games	Host	Dates	Opened by	Nations	Competitors	Sports	Events	Top nation
I	2005	Mecca	8 – 20 April	Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud	55[4]	7000[4]	15	108	Saudi Arabia
II	2010[lower-alpha 1]	Tehran	Cancelled
III	2013	Palembang	22 September – 1 October	Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono	57	1769	13	183	Indonesia
IV	2017	Baku	12 – 22 May	Ilham Aliyev	54	6000	21	268	Azerbaijan
V	2021[lower-alpha 2]	Konya	9 – 18 August 2022	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	55	4200	19	380	Turkey
VI	2025	Yaoundé	6 – 15 August	Future event

Sports

28 sports have been presented in the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Sport Years Archery () 2013 Athletics () Since 2005 Badminton () 2013 Basketball () Since 2005 Boxing () 2017 Bodybuilding () 2025 Diving () Since 2005 Equestrian () 2005–2013 Fencing () 2005–2013, 2021 Football () Since 2005

Sport Years Futsal () 2005 only Gymnastics () Since 2017 Goalball () 2005 only Handball () Since 2005 Judo () Since 2017 Karate () Since 2005 Rhythmic gymnastics () 2017 Shooting () 2017 Swimming () Since 2005

Sport Years Table tennis () Since 2005 Taekwondo () Since 2005 Tennis () Since 2005 Volleyball () Since 2005 Water polo () Since 2005 Weightlifting () Since 2005 Wrestling () Since 2017 Wushu () Since 2013 Zurkhaneh () 2017 only

Medal count

All-time Islamic Solidarity Games medal table (as of 2021)

Rank	team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Turkey (TUR)	237	207	199	643
2	Iran (IRI)	118	97	106	321
3	Azerbaijan (AZE)	114	99	85	298
4	Uzbekistan (UZB)	66	58	96	220
5	Indonesia (INA)	56	78	88	222
6	Egypt (EGY)	46	51	49	146
7	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	42	36	56	134
8	Morocco (MAR)	40	38	68	146
9	Saudi Arabia (KSA)	37	33	41	111
10	Malaysia (MAS)	33	23	41	97
11	Bahrain (BHR)	23	13	15	51
12	Algeria (ALG)	22	40	65	127
13	Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)	14	15	27	56
14	Iraq (IRQ)	13	17	13	43
15	Qatar (QAT)	8	8	14	30
16	Jordan (JOR)	8	6	22	36
17	Kuwait (KUW)	7	17	10	34
18	Turkmenistan (TKM)	7	10	28	45
19	Syria (SYR)	7	5	14	26
20	Oman (OMA)	4	7	11	22
21	Tunisia (TUN)	4	4	29	37
22	Cameroon (CMR)	3	9	12	24
23	United Arab Emirates (UAE)	3	6	14	23
24	Nigeria (NGR)	3	6	2	11
25	Pakistan (PAK)	3	3	10	16
26	Gambia (GAM)	3	1	0	4
27	Uganda (UGA)	2	6	3	11
28	Senegal (SEN)	2	4	15	21
29	Sudan (SUD)	1	5	3	9
30	Tajikistan (TJK)	1	4	9	14
31	Bangladesh (BAN)	1	3	4	8
32	Djibouti (DJI)	1	3	3	7
33	Ivory Coast (CIV)	1	1	8	10
34	Libya (LBA)	1	1	6	8
35	Burkina Faso (BUR)	1	1	2	4
	Oman (OMN)	1	1	2	4
37	Guinea-Bissau (GBS)	1	0	1	2
	Mozambique (MOZ)	1	0	1	2
	Niger (NIG)	1	0	1	2
40	Guyana (GUY)	0	3	3	6
41	Yemen (YEM)	0	1	6	7
42	Lebanon (LBN)	0	1	3	4
43	Palestine (PLE)	0	1	2	3
	Suriname (SUR)	0	1	2	3
45	Albania (ALB)	0	1	0	1
	Brunei (BRU)	0	1	0	1
	Guinea (GUI)	0	1	0	1
	Mali (MLI)	0	1	0	1
	Togo (TOG)	0	1	0	1
50	Afghanistan (AFG)	0	0	7	7
51	Benin (BEN)	0	0	1	1
	Maldives (MDV)	0	0	1	1
	Sierra Leone (SLE)	0	0	1	1
Totals (53 entries)		936	928	1199	3063

See also

• Islamic Games
• Women's Islamic Games
• Maccabiah Games

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Islamic Solidarity Games.

• Official website