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The idea of an international Islamic education institution was first conceived in 1982  by the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad during a special meeting between OIC leaders to establish an international institution for tertiary education based on Islamic principles, known as the Islamization of knowledge. It was then shared with the then Minister of Education, Dato' Amar Dr. Sulaiman Daud; the Director-General of Education, Tan Sri Dato' Hj Murad bin Mohd. Nor and two other persons. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamal bin Hassan, then of the National University of Malaysia, a senior academic official who attended the meeting, was entrusted with preparing the first working paper on the concept of the university.

IIUM was officially established on 23 May 1983 when the University received its 'Establishment Order' from His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta'in Billah, after an exchange of Diplomatic Notes of co-sponsorship between the Government of Malaysia and a number of Muslim Governments as well as the OIC. On 1 July 1983, Ahmad Shah was appointed as the first Constitutional Head of the IIUM.

The university's language of instruction was to be English and Arabic, and many of its students would have to come from overseas. As Malaysian law did not allow for this, IIUM was incorporated under the Companies Act of 1965. Thus it became the first international university and the first university in Malaysia to use English as the medium of instruction and administration.

It was officially opened at Petaling Jaya, with the Allahyarham Tun Hussein Onn elected as the first president. The University operates under the direction of a Board of Governors with representatives of the OIC as well as eight sponsoring governments, namely; Malaysia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Libya, Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Nevertheless, the Constitutional Head, President and Rector of this international university are all Malaysians.

The first 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 Center for Fundamental Knowledge and the Center for Languages. These first batch received their degrees and diplomas during the First Convocation held on 10 October 1987. 68 graduates were conferred Bachelor of Economics (B.Econ) degrees, 56 Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degrees, and 29 Qadis were conferred Diploma in Law and Administration of Islamic Judiciary.

Campus

A view of the main campus

Presently, the university has moved to 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 (CFS). IIUM also has newly opened a CFS 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; ISTAC might more properly be referred to as a research institute rather than a campus. Nevertheless it comes within the administration of the University.

IIUM has 13 faculties, called 'kulliyyah' in the University from the Arabic word meaning the same. 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.

Facilities

other.IIUM is also noted for its gleaming blue-tiled roofs and characteristic sandstone buildings.

Although this is an uncommon practice in Malaysian universities, every student is entitled to have their own rooms in hostels within the IIUM campus. But since 2008, only female students are assured rooms within the campus, whereas male students are required to stay in outside-campus hostel. In 2009, due to overflowing of new intakes, all students are expected to be ready for self-accommodation, as the hostels are no longer able to accommodate all students.

IIUM is particularly well-known, at least in Malaysia, for its extensive law library and research centre, as well as for producing top-class university debaters; the University was placed seventh in the world varsity rankings in 2003.
Masjid of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah

The Masjid of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah lies in the centre of the main campus grounds, interconnected to the rest of the administrative and academic buildings. This is symbolic of the Muslim belief that religious and worldly education are indivisible and inseparable from each other.IIUM is also noted for its gleaming blue-tiled roofs and characteristic sandstone buildings.

Awards and Recognition

IIUM has participated on international competitions in the field of debate, public speaking and mooting competitions in regular basis. In 2004 Irma Nur Zahrah Bt. Junian from IIUM won the Public Speaking Competition of World University Debating Championship (WUDC).  In 2007, IIUM won the WUDC title for English as a second language.  In 2008 world ranking of World Debate website, IIUM had the 14th place among the top universities of the world.

In the field of research, students of IIUM have received recognition at regional and international level by winning gold, silver and bronze medals at various exhibitions and expos, including PENCIPTA, INPEX, ITEX, Geneva and KIPA.