The World Muslim Congress, Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami, which enjoys Consultative Status with the UN in New York through the ECOSOC and UNICEF and observer Status with the Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), was founded in an assemblage of eminent leaders from the World of Islam held in Makkah in 1926. King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia played host to the Congress. A leading light in this congregation was the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Alhaj Aminul Hussaini.

The Congress resolved that a permanent international Islamic organization be set up to promote solidarity and cooperation among the global Islamic community (Ummah).
It assumed organizational shape in the second International Islamic Conference held in Baitul Maqdas (Jerusalem) in 1931. The constitution and rules and regulations of the Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami were framed and approved in this conference held under the presidentship of Alhaj Aminul Hussaini, the Grand Mufti of Palestine. He was elected as a President of the Motamar; the two Vice-Presidents elected were Allama Dr. Mohammad Iqbal and Syed Alouba Pasha.

After the birth of the Muslim-majority State of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, under the leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, its first governor-general, eminent Signatories of the World of Islam began working for the revival of the Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami.

Its revival was achieved in a World Muslim Conference held in Karachi, the capital of Pakistan at that time, in February 1949, with a stirring inaugural address delivered by Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first Prime Minister. This was followed by a bigger conference of the Motamar held in Karachi in February 1951. This Conference gave a new form and shape to the Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami, making Karachi the Headquarters of the Motamar, with Alhaj Aminul Hussaini, the Grand Mufti of Palestine, as its President and Dr. Insamullah Khan as its secretary-general. It set up a Constitution drafting committee. Its two separate sessions dealing with "the Women of Islam" and the "Youth of Islam" aroused immense interest in the World of Islam.

The Motamar's 1951 Conference held in Karachi saw the seeding of many ideas of cooperation among the Muslim countries and people, which in the years that followed became realities.

Notable among them were the proposals for establishing a World Muslim News Agency and an International Muslim Development Bank. Between 1951 and 1999, the Motamar's Conferences held in different parts of the Islamic World have contributed immensely to the arousing of a feeling of fraternal solidarity in the Muslim Ummah and the promotion of institutions for mutual cooperation in diverse fields, including political, economic, religious, educational, and cultural interests. Since its establishment in 1926, the Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami has championed Muslim causes such as Palestine, Kashmir, the Filipino Muslims' struggle, freedom for Muslim people from European colonian rule, and the economic emancipation of the Muslim Ummah.