thumb|Muhammad Abdul-Rauf Building serves as the administration building, and as a landmarks of its Gombak campus being located in front of the main entrance.
The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is a public university in Malaysia. Headquartered in Gombak, Selangor, IIUM has six other campuses all over Malaysia: two medical-centric campuses and a Centre for Foundation Studies in Gambang, Pahang, two city campuses in Kuala Lumpur, and a language and tourism campus in Pagoh, Johor.
The university is sponsored by eight governments and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is distinct from the Indonesian International Islamic University and International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh.
The university was established on 23 May 1983 and founded upon Islamic principles. Islamic values are inculcated into all disciplines. IIUM offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees courses at its 14 faculties or "Kulliyyah" ("Kulliyyat", in plural).
Since 1987, IIUM has produced more than 70,000 graduates and undergraduates from more than 100 countries, as of 2020, with majority of them were Malaysians. Its medium of instruction is English, with Arabic used in courses related to the study of Islamic Sciences, although the university also uses Bahasa Malaysia in certain courses. IIUM is one of the only two public universities in Malaysia to have English as the official language of instruction and administration, the other being Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
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.
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.
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.
|-
| 8
| Mohd Daud Bakar
| 1 July 2019
| 30 June 2022
|-
| 9
| Samsudin Osman
| 1 July 2022
| 30 June 2025
|-
| 10
| Abdul Rashid Hussain
| 1 July 2025
| data-sort-value="9999" |Present
|}
</div>
Rectors
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" data-expandtext="Show" data-collapsetext="Hide">
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Rectors
! #
! Name
! Term start
! Term end
|-
| 1
| Muhammad M. Abdul Rauf
| 1984
| 1989
|-
| 2
| Abdul Hamid AbuSulayman
| 1989
| 1998
|-
| 3
| Mohd Kamal Hassan
| 5 April 1998
| 31 May 2006
|-
| 4
| Syed Arabi Idid
| 1 June 2006
| 1 June 2011
|-
| 5
| Zaleha Kamarudin
| 2 August 2011
| 31 July 2018
|-
| 6
| Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
| 1 August 2018
| 31 July 2024
|-
| 7
| Osman Bakar
| 21 September 2024
| data-sort-value="9999" |Present
|}
</div>
Campus
thumb|International Islamic University Malaysia, Gombak 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):
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Kulliyyahs by Campus
! Kulliyyah
! Abbreviation
! Campus
|-
| Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws
| AIKOL
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences
| KENMS
| Gombak
|-
| AbdulHamid AbuSulayman Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
| AHAS KIRKHS
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design
| KAED
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Engineering
| KOE
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Education
| KOED
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology
| KICT
| Gombak
|-
| Kulliyyah of Medicine
| KOM
| Kuantan
|-
| Kulliyyah of Dentistry
| KOD
| Kuantan
|-
| Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences
| KAHS
| Kuantan
|-
| Kulliyyah of Science
| KOS
| Kuantan
|-
| Kulliyyah of Nursing
| KON
| Kuantan
|-
|Kulliyyah of Pharmacy
|KOP
|Kuantan
|-
| Kulliyyah of Sustainable Tourism and Contemporary Language
| KSTCL
| Pagoh
|}
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed" caption="IIUM facilities">
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
</gallery>
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
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.
<gallery class="center" widths="160" heights="160" perrow="6" caption="Notable International Islamic University Malaysia Alumni">
File:Pritam Singh Singapore 4.jpg|Pritam Singh, 9th Leader of the Opposition for Singapore
File:Mohamed Jameel Ahmed portrait.jpg|Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, Vice President of the Maldives
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:Syed Saddiq (cropped).jpg|Syed Saddiq, Minister of Youth and Sports 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:Atiqur Rahman Mujahid, Members of Parliament taking oath, 13th National Parliamentary Election, Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Dhaka, 2026-02-17 (cropped).jpg|Dr. Atiqur Rahman Mujahid, Member of the Bangladeshi Parliament and Joint Convener of the National Citizen Party
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:Mufti Yasir Nadeem Al Wajidi (cropped).jpg|Yasir Nadeem al Wajidi, is a prominent Indian-American Islamic scholar, mufti, and author based in Chicago.
</gallery>
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
See also
- List of Islamic educational institutions