Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meet in Istanbul.

As more than 30 leaders from Islamic countries gather in the Turkish city of Istanbul, the main message has been one of unity.

But many say it's hard to disguise the fact that the Muslim world is deeply divided.

The leaders of two of the biggest countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are locked on opposing sides of the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and its ideology threatens to destabilise or consume nations around the world.

And hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Muslim world are being forced to uproot their lives and relocate to an increasingly unwelcoming Europe.

It's against this backdrop that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit is being held.

An organisation that prides itself on being the collective voice of the Muslim world. But is it doing its job?

And can its leaders overcome divisions to find solutions for the many challenges facing the Muslim world?

Presenter: Jane Dutton

Guests:

Ahmet Han - Associate Professor of International Relations at Kadir Has University.

Azzam Tamimi - Academic and political activist.

Nicolas Pelham - Middle East correspondent for the Economist and author of Holy Lands: Reviving Pluralism in the Middle East.

Source: Al Jazeera