International Islamic University Malaysia

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and Arabic, which was initially prohibited by Malaysian law, IIUM was initially incorporated under the currently repealed Companies Act 1965.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.