International Islamic University Malaysia

History

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad conceived the idea for an international institution of Islamic education in 1982 during a meeting between OIC leaders about the Islamization of knowledge. The idea was shared with the then-minister of education, Sulaiman Daud; the then-director-general of education, Murad Mohamed Nor; and two others. Mohd Kamal Hassan, then of the National University of Malaysia, along with a senior academic official who attended the meeting, produced the first working paper on the concept of the university.

Ismail al-Faruqi, a prominent scholar, played a significant role in this movement. He advised political leaders in the Muslim world, including Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan and Mahathir Mohamad. During Zia-ul-Haq’s administration, al-Faruqi contributed to the establishment of the International Islamic University in Islamabad in 1980, which aimed to integrate Islamic values with contemporary academic disciplines. In Malaysia, al-Faruqi's advisory role was instrumental in the foundation of the university in 1983. These institutions were part of broader efforts to develop educational systems that combined religious and secular knowledge, fostering intellectual and cultural development in the Muslim world.

The university would be the first Islamic university in the world to conceptualize the "integration of knowledge with morals," a concept adopted at the International Convention of Islamic Education in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1976.

IIUM was once a private university. As the university's language of instruction was not to be Malay but instead English and Arabic, which was initially prohibited by Malaysian law, IIUM was initially incorporated under the currently repealed Companies Act 1965. It was an absolute authority of the Companies Act 1965 allows IIUM to stay using English as its official language and it does not fully exempted from Malay language usage as per act although IIUM are not obligated to adhere the National Language Act 1963/1967. However, IIUM was officially made a public university on 23 May 1983, by Section 5A (2) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, when the university received its establishment order from the then King, Ahmad Shah of Pahang, after an exchange of diplomatic notes of co-sponsorship between the government of Malaysia, seven other governments and OIC.

A batch of 153 students from Malaysia and abroad were enrolled for the first academic session, which started on 8 July 1983. Courses were conducted under the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Laws, the Centre for Fundamental Knowledge, and the Centre for Languages. The members of this first batch received their degrees and diplomas during the first convocation held on 10 October 1987. 68 graduates were conferred the degree of Bachelor of Economics, 56 other graduates received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and 29 Qadhis were conferred Diploma in Law and Administration of Islamic Judiciary.

Ahmad Shah of Pahang was the founding constitutional head since 1 July 1983. Before his death, he was replaced by his daughter-in-law, the current Tengku Ampuan of Pahang, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah. She was made the constitutional head on 12 April 2019 for a five-year term, ending her father-in-law's chancellery in IIUM for 36 years, but the instrument of appointment was only presented to her by the federal government on 17 June 2019.

Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Hussain, was appointed as the 10th IIUM President effective 1 July 2025. He was appointed in recognition of his distinguished leadership and reputation in the Malaysian corporate sector, particularly in Islamic finance.

On 2 September 2025, the Institute of International and Asean Studies (IINTAS) was formally established as a think tank under the IIUM during a ceremony where Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir was the guest of honour.

Visual identity

IIUM introduced its first corporate logo upon its establishment in 1983 and used as a temporary logo before adopting the current logo. In 1988, the university introduced a new corporate logo, which was created by its Office for Communication, Advertising and Promotion, featuring the emblem consists of the Koran, the Kaaba, eight inner domes pointing at eight directions and the outer domes, accompanied by the names of the university in Arabic, English and Bahasa Malaysia. However, the IIUM's official name in Bahasa Malaysia were rendered in Jawi script. The logo has since used permanently by the university although there was slight changes.

The university's official motto, "Garden of Knowledge and Virtue" in English or "Taman Ilmu dan Budi" in Malay, was introduced by the third IIUM Rector, Mohd Kamal Hassan and used since 2000. IIUM also have two slogans, "Leading the Way. Leading the World.", used since 2019 and "Tawhidic Epistemology, Ummatic Excellence", used since 2024.

Leaders since 1983

Constitutional Heads

Presidents

Rectors

Campus

IIUM is headquartered at a 700-acre (2.8 km²) campus at Gombak, Selangor and has six other campuses. Three of the campuses are in Kuantan, Pahang, with the Centre for Foundation Studies situated at Gambang, a medical-centric campus situated at Bandar Indera Mahkota, and a clinical campus situated near Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital. Two city campuses are located at Persiaran Duta and Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur, both for the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC). Another campus is located at Bandar Universiti Pagoh, Johor for the Kulliyyah of Sustainable Tourism and Contemporary Language (KSTCL).

Centres of studies

IIUM has 14 following faculties. Each of them is, in Arabic, called "Kulliyyah" ("Kulliyyat" in plural):

Gallery

File:IIUM Mosque exterior.jpg|Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque, Gombak Campus (outside view) File:IIUM Mosque interior.jpg|Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque, Gombak Campus (inside view) File:IIUM - panoramio (2).jpg|Cultural Centre (at left side) and Azman Hashim Complex (at right side) File:Iiumlibr.jpg|Library at Gombak Campus File:IIUM Mahallah Al Faruq. - panoramio.jpg|Mahallah al-Faruq, one of 17 residential colleges existed in Gombak Campus File:IIUM Stadium - panoramio.jpg|Sayyidina Hamzah Stadium File:IIUM Playgraound - panoramio (1).jpg|Football field

Academics

Usrah

IIUM is the only public university in Malaysia that requires all of its foundation and undergraduate students to attend Usrah, i.e. Islamic study circle held weekly for the purpose of social, spiritual and intellectual enhancement. Since the establishment of IIUM, Usrah has been a requirement for students to graduate from IIUM. Since 2014, a separate Usrah has been held at residential colleges in addition to centralised Usrah, which is also compulsory to intermediate undergraduate students living in campus.

IIUM is also the only public university in Malaysia that requires all of its students to undergo a community engagement usrah programme known as Usrah in Action, where students undergo two consecutive semesters of organising sustainability projects to help local communities around the university. The projects are long-term in nature, and would be continued by the following batches of students to perpetually benefit the communities in need.

Achievements

Awards and recognition

In 2014, IIUM was ranked tenth out of 440 teams participated in the 35th World Universities Debating Championship. In 2016, IIUM won the United Asian Debating Championship, the Australasian Intervarsity Debate Championship, and the Asian British Parliamentary Championship. In 2017, IIUM was made the runner-up of World Universities Arabic Debating Championship.

In the field of research, IIUM have received recognition at regional and international level by winning gold, silver and bronze medals at exhibitions and expos, including PENCIPTA, INPEX, ITEX Geneva and KIPA. IIUM entered the inaugural Proton Green Mobility Challenge 2012 (PGMC) when the University's entry, an electric powered Proton Saga BLM named "Smart Mobility" became the overall champion and also took "Farthest Distance" and "Fastest Two Laps Challenge" award.

IIUM was involved in the creation of the Malaysian Shariah Index with collaboration from JAKIM and YADIM which Malaysia will be the first country in the world to adopt it. The index will measure the compliance of eight fields – judiciary, politics, economics, health, education, culture, infrastructure and environment, and social – with "maqasid syariah", or the intentions of Shariah. The Malaysian Shariah Index was officially launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia on 10 February 2015.

IIUM won multiple sustainability recognitions and awards, most notably the prestigious International Green Gown Awards, for which it claims the title for having the most awards won with six awards in total. It is also the only institution to win the Sustainability Institution of the Year award twice (2020 & 2024), and the only one to sweep more than two awards within the same year back in 2024.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of International Islamic University Malaysia alumni

IIUM has been known to be the most influential Islamic tertiary education institute in the country as well as one of the leading Islamic universities in the Muslim world.

File:Pritam Singh Singapore 4.jpg|Pritam Singh, Leader of the Opposition for Singapore File:Mohamed Jameel Ahmed portrait.jpg|Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, Vice President of the Maldives File:Syed Saddiq (cropped).jpg|Syed Saddiq, President of the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance File:Halbar.JPG|Syed Hamid Albar, Minister of Home Affairs of Malaysia File:Zambry Abdul Kadir May 2023.jpg|Zambry Abdul Kadir, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia File:Ahmed Moalim Fiqi official portrait.jpg|Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia File:23rd IIFA Conference in Medina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, November 2018-6.jpg|Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Guinea File:Tashim Hassan - 53857764591.jpg|Pengiran Mohammad Tashim, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs of Brunei File:Azalina Othman 2023.jpg|Azalina Othman Said, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Law and Institutional Reforms of Malaysia File:Asyraf Wajdi in 2019.jpg|Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, Chairman of the Majlis Amanah Rakyat File:IGP TS Khalid Abu Bakar.jpg|Khalid Abu Bakar, Inspector-General of the Royal Malaysian Police File:SS PROF MADYA DATO' ARIF PERKASA DR MOHD ASRI BIN ZAINUL ABIDIN.jpg|Asri Zainul Abidin, Mufti of Perlis File:Hassan Saeed special advisor (cropped).jpg|Hassan Saeed, Attorney General of the Republic of Maldives File:Husnu Al Suood in February 2024.jpg|Husnu Al Suood, Attorney General and Justice of the Supreme Court of the Maldives File:Omar Suleiman at ICNA-MAS Convention 2022 in Baltimore, MD.jpg|Omar Suleiman, American Muslim scholar, President of Yaqeen Institute File:Muna AbuSulayman - World Economic Forum on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia 2012.jpg|Muna AbuSulayman, Saudi businesswoman and media personality File:Mizanur Rahman Azhari in 2023.png|Mizanur Rahman Azhari, Bangladeshi Muslim Scholar.

Notable faculty members

Current faculty members

• Abdul Rashid Moten, Professor of KIRKHS, political scientist
• Abdullah al-Ahsan, Professor of KIRKHS, contemporary Muslim historian
• Marzuki Mohamad, Associate Professor of KIRKHS, political scientist, and Chief Private Secretary to the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia
• Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, Lecturer of AIKOL, MP of Sepang (federal constituency) (2013-2022), Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Legal Affairs) (2018-2020)
• Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz, Professor of AIKOL, constitutional expert
• Solehah Yaacob, Associate Professor of KIRKHS, Arabic linguist
• Syed Arabi Syed Abdullah Idid, Senior Professor of KIRKHS, media and communication expert and Rector of IIUM (2006–2011)
• Zaleha Kamarudin, Professor of AIKOL, family law expert and Rector of IIUM (2011–2018)

Former faculty members

• Abdul Aziz Bari, lecturer and professor of AIKOL (1989–2011), MLA for Tebing Tinggi, Perak and member of Perak State Executive Council, Malaysia (since 2018)
• Abdul Hamid Ahmad Abu Sulayman, Rector of IIUM (1988–1998)
• Ahmad Mohamed Ibrahim, founding Dean of AIKOL, Attorney-General of Singapore (1959–1967)
• Ahmet Davutoğlu, lecturer of political science at KIRKHS (1993–1996), Prime Minister of Turkey (2014–2016)
• Maszlee Malik, lecturer of KIRKHS (2002–2018), MP for Simpang Renggam, President of IIUM and Minister of Education, Malaysia (2018-2020)
• Mohammad Hashim Kamali, professor of Islamic law at AIKOL and ISTAC (1985–2007), CEO of International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (since 2007)
• Mohd. Kamal Hassan, Rector of IIUM (1999–2006)
• Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, founder of ISTAC, then visiting professor at UTM

Notes

References

References

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