The International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM)(Arabic:الجامعة الإسلامية العالمية ماليزيا) is a private publicly-funded university in Malaysia. The main IIUM campus is located in Gombak, Selangor. IIUM is sponsored by eight different governments from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Although the university was founded on Islamic principles, it admits non-Muslim students as well.
Presently, the main campus is located on a sprawling 700 acre (2.8 km²) campus at Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. The original campus in Petaling Jaya has been converted to a matriculation centre and now known as Centre For Foundation Studies (CENFOS). IIUM also has newly opened a CENFOS new campus at Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan for Art students such as BEN, HS, IRK, BAR, LAWS and ECONOMICS. Apart from these two campuses, IIUM has another two campuses—the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan, about 250 km to the east in the state of Pahang.
Presently, the main campus is located on a sprawling 700 acre (2.8 km²) campus at Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. The original campus in Petaling Jaya has been converted to a matriculation centre and now known as Centre For Foundation Studies (CENFOS). IIUM also has newly opened a CENFOS new campus at Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan for Art students such as BEN, HS, IRK, BAR, LAWS and ECONOMICS. Apart from these two campuses, IIUM has another two campuses—the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan, about 250 km to the east in the state of Pahang.
IIUM has 15 faculties, called 'kulliyyah' in the University from the Arabic word meaning the same—the only institution in Malaysia to call them as such. Two faculties unique to IIUM are the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL) and the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS). Other courses offered include various disciplines of Engineering, Dentistry, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture, Information Technology, Biomedical Science, Biotechnology,Economics and Management Sciences.
Although the university was founded on Islamic principles, it admits non-Muslim students as well. The medium of instruction is English, with Arabic used in courses related to the study of fiqh and sharia. Basic Arabic is compulsory course, even for non-Muslim students. In addition, basic Malay Language is also compulsory for international students. Perhaps significantly for an Islamic institution, the ratio of female to male students is 3:1
There are approximatley 18,000 students from over 90 countries studying in IIUM, as well as students form non-Islamic countries with a sizable Muslim minority (such as Germany, Bosnia Herzegovina, China, Japan, India, United States of America, Russia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand).
IIUM is particularly well -known, at least in Malaysia, for its extensive law library and research centre, as well as producing top-class university debaters; the University was place seventh in th eworld varsity rankings in 2003, and in the World Debating Championships in 2004, one of the university's students emerged as world's best debater.
The uniqueness of the IIUM model, with its integrated curriculum and wide ranging programmes of holistic higher education, has earned the admiration and esteem of many renowned international scholars and leaders of the Muslim world. This is because the education at IIUM includes a dimension that is missing elsewhere, for IIUm strives not merely for excellence in the academic sense but for the development of balanced integrated personalities ready to face the challenges of the 21st Century.
