AL-MISBAHT H E L A N T E R N

IIUM NEWS BULLETIN http://www.iium.edu.myISSN: 0128-8377

Jan-June 2017

SAUDI, IIUM SOLIDIFY

34-YEAR OLDRELATIONSHIP

SAUDI, IIUMSPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

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ENCOURAGING UNIVERSITYSTUDENTS TO REGISTER AS

VOTERS

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REVIVING MUSICAND CULTURE IN IIUM

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IIUM DEBATE WINNINGSTREAK CONTINUES

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EDITORIAL BOARD

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Advisor Hon. RectorProf. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin

Editor in Chief Assoc. Prof Dr. Ismail Sheikh Ahmad

Editorial Mazlan YusofAmran BaharumRoslan Rusly

Promotion Committee Office of Corporate Communication (OCCM)

Concept DesignHamizuddin Soid Hamidi

Graphic DesignerNur Hanim SalehAzrai Rahman

Photographers Noor Azman Shah IsmailSamsuri Abdul JalilMuhamad Nizam Samsudin

Finance Administration & Distribution Committee Nurul ‘Ain Mohammed NoorZulia Mohammad AliNoor Azlin Ahmad Musbaha

Student CommitteeIIUM Today

Articles & Published by Office of Corporate CommunicationInternational Islamic University Malaysia

Printer Naga Global Print (M) Sdn. Bhd.

EDITORIAL

RECTOR’S FOREWORD

NEWS

EVENTS

SPORTS

OPINIONS

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IIUM News Bulletin welcomes articles from all contributors especially staff and students of the IIUM. Contributions can be submitted to the e-mail address or address listed above.

WORK WITH PASSION

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News Bulletin editorial

IIUM News Bulletin reemerges with a new look. This new look represents a spirit of renewal where IIUM, the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue has reached a turning point since it opened its doors in 1983. For the past thirty-four years, IIUM has made its mark as the provider of a comprehensive quality Islamic-based higher education to Malaysia and the world.

For more than three decades, IIUM has invited the Muslim world to send its young to be educated in the true sense of the word. The message to the world was loud and clear: for the Muslim world to be redeemed, education for Muslim youth has to be comprehensive encompassing the temporal world and the hereafter This IIUM has done remarkably well. It equips the Muslim youth with knowledge of the natural and technical sciences, humanities and social sciences.

But the world has seen how even with these types of essential knowledge, without the ability to appreciate art and culture that truly enrich the human soul, youth would not be able to fully realize their potential and aspiration. With that in mind, IIUM has continued to pursue the culture of virtue; the philosophy of life that values moderation, and appreciation of art and culture that begins with what already has existed in the society that we are born into. But the artistic and cultural appreciation can only be present in oneself with the accompaniment of what the French called s voire-vivre, kindness and respect towards others. May we all be guided towards what is righteous.

EDITORIAL

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Forewords by Rector

I am extremely pleased that the IIUM News Bulletin is back in circulation with a new look. I regard its reemergence that occurs when our university is riding high after the visit of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to IIUM Gombak for the conferment of Honorary Doctor in Political Science as a very good sign. His Majesty’s visit was such a momentous occasion for IIUM since it further solidifies our University’s special relationship with the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that has blossomed since IIUM opened its doors thirty four years ago.

I would love to see the IIUM News Bulletin to continue highlight stories of significant human value and interest especially that of our students in the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue. IIUM as a purve or of quality comprehensive Islamic-based higher education also has to be seen as an incubator for healthy development of students’ appreciation of art and culture as manifested by the recent CITRA annual musical concert where musicians and cultural performers consisting of students from practically every kulliyyah. Without the inculcation of high culture and appreciation of the arts among students and staff, our objective to produce highly educated citizens who possess the right virtue would be incomplete. Budi or virtue makes the individual whole!

Alhamdulillah, the first there months of 2017 have been a good one for IIUM with the visit of King Salman to the Gombak campus being the main highlight. In June, MOHE declared IIUM as one of the top ten public universities in Malaysia with its divinity and theology study as one of the world’s best. IIUM continues to in the forefront of research and publication in Islamic banking and finance. Indeed, we have so many things going our way but we should never rest on our laurels because there is more hard work ahead in these challenging times.

May IIUM continue to prosper in 2017 and beyond with IIUM News Bulletin on hand to archive it for posterity.

Wassalam

RECTOR'SFOREWORD

Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin

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By Azreen Azirinee Azizi1/3/2017

The visit of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to IIUM on 28 Februari 2017 to attend a special convocation symbolises a reaffirmation of friendship and linkage between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Tan Sri Dr. Rais told IIUM Today that “It was a great honor for IIUM to have the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques coming to our campus and to receive the Honorary Doctoral Degree that was conferred by the University’s Constitutional Head, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.”

Asked about possible contribution of the Saudi government towards IIUM, Tan Sri Rais said it would be to the discretion of King Salman.

He said, “If His Majesty wants to extend a gift in the form of monetary fund we welcome it, if he does not we will not create any inquiry about it. That is Islamic and that is budi in itself.”

He also believed that in the long run IIUM and KSA will have something that will greatly benefit both sides. For a start, he added, there are already over 100 sponsored students from Saudi Arabia and “that is very good”.

“IIUM also will be encouraging more Saudi students to study here.”

Tan Sri Rais indicated that more Saudi students would be studying here with their family and we welcome them.

In his speech during the conferment ceremony, Tan Sri Rais highlighted on King Salman’s generosity, support and concern for many organisations and committees had not gone unnoticed by muslims around the world.

IIUM has conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award on King Salman not only as a recognition of friendship, of cordiality, and of Islamic brotherhood, but also to appreciate the King’s generosity and contribution to the ummah at large.

The special convocation was witnessed by more than 1,000 attendees, among them were Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Deputy Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Asyraf Wajdi Dasuki, and IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin.

There were also guests from the diplomatic missions in Kuala Lumpur as well as media representatives from Saudi Arabia and the international media.

NEWS

IIUM PRESIDENT:

SAUDI KING’SVISIT TO IIUMSYMBOLISES

REAFFIRMATION OF FRIENDSHIP

Tan Sri Rais, IIUM President, Delivering his welcoming remarks at the Special Convocation for King Salman.

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“MORE SAUDI STUDENTS TO STUDY IN MALAYSIA”- A RECOGNITION OF OUR

UNIVERSITIES, SAYS IDRIS JUSOH

By Azreen Azirinee Azizi1/3/2017

More students from Saudi Arabia are expected to enroll in Malaysian universities following the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said yesterday.

“This shows the recognition of the Saudi Government towards Malaysia’s higher education,” Datuk Idris said, adding that “this recognition will lead to more students from Saudi Arabia studying here and vice versa, there would be a similar increase in Malaysian students studying in Saudi Arabia.”

The MoU signed by the Saudi Arabian Labour and Social Development Minister, Dr. Ali Nassir Al Ghafies and Malaysia’s Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, will further strengthen scientific

and educational cooperation between institutions of higher learning of the two countries.

Through this MoU, it is hoped to promote technical co-operation in the exchange of academic staff, teachers, trainees, experts and students, information on the system and structure of higher education, reforms and new educational technologies, and other areas of co-operation that are beneficial to both parties.

According to IIUM President, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim, the MoU will not only benefit Saudi Arabian students but also Malaysian students at large.

King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited IIUM and Universiti Malaya during his stay in Malaysia to receive honorary doctoral awards.

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OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF IIUM KNOWLEDGE WAQF ILM FOR

CORPORATE SECTOR

Gombak8/5/ 2017

IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin officially launched the Waqf Ilm programme to the corporate donors and Aspiration Ceremony of IIUM Endowment Fund (IEF) at Banquet Hall, IIUM Gombak today.

The waqf programme was launched in line with the government’s hope to ensure the sustainability of source of income for centers of higher education in Malaysia as stated in the UniTP Purple Book, Strategic Plan Higher Education Malaysia. The ultimate objective of the plan was to reduce dependency on the source of income from the government and existing donors.

IEF hoped, ultimately, to collect as much as RM1 billion to help needy students of IIUM. Since its

launch in October 2016, it managed to collect around RM700,000.

The programme adopted the concept of cash waqf, donations from corporate bodies and the public as well as deduction from salary among staff.

At the launch, IIUM acknowledged generous parties who had contributed to the waqf where they were categorized as Gold donors.

As a department, IEF is responsible to find funds for IIUM students with good academic achievement but who require financial assistance. Through the funds collected from the donors and corporate bodies, IEF had spent around RM10.5 million which was utilized by 4,323 recipients in 2016.

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IIUM FAMILY HEALTH

CLINIC OPENS ITS DOORS TO

GENERAL PUBLIC IN KUANTAN

Kuantan15/5/2017

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan Campus launched the IIUM Family Health Clinic for IIUM community and the general public in Kuantan. It was officiated by IIUM Rector Prof Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin.

The IIUM Family Health Clinic will offer health check facilities. This clinic was previously located within the Kuantan campus area. On January 2017, the clinic was re-located to allow access for the general public.

The clinic was officially opened on February 2017. It is to be regulated by Department of Family Medicine (Jabatan Perubatan Keluarga) under the supervision of Kulliyyah of Medicine IIUM. Through the clinic services, IIUM hoped to serve

its own community as well as the surrounding population with early or initial treatment before serious cases were referred to the hospital.

This clinic is headed by Prof. Madya Datin Dr. Faiza Abdullah and assisted by two Medical Officers and 10 medical staff consisting of a pharmacist, lab assistant, nurse and driver. Among the facilities offered are outpatient clinic, maternity, health check like X-ray, blood check, smoking cessation clinic, breastfeeding clinic and general health check. The clinic operates from Monday to Friday from 8.00 am until 5.00 pm.

Present at the launch was Dean of Kulliyyah of Medicine, Prof. Dr. Azmi Md. Noor, Deputy Rectors, medical officers, staffs and students.

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By Azreen Azirinee Azizi1/3/17

The IIUM debate team has scored yet another gold at this year’s Asian British Parliament (ABP) Debating Championship at Prasetiya Mulya Business School (BSD), Jakarta, in a competition perceived as the second most eminent.

As icing on the cake, Dhaka-born Bangladeshi, Mubarrat Wassey, 25, a student of the Kuliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences and Ameera Natasha Moore, 23, student of the Ahmad Ibrahim Kuliyyah of Law grabbed the first and second spot as overall best speakers.

The second team that was represented by Ahmad Syarifuddin Ahmad Fakhri and Sara Abdul Rahim also managed to be among the top ten best debaters of the championship.

The final leg of the debate competition witnessed a fourcornered fight between Singapore Management University (SMU), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Yale – NUS College (YNC).

The motion IIUM defended in the finals was ‘This house prefers a world where individuals, upon specific deliberate contemplation, know the outcomes of their choices.’

A total of 80 teams comprising two speakers took part in the competition with students from different universities across the world.

In the competiton held from 7 Oct – 12 Oct, the competing teams were given 15 minutes each to prepare their defence and were restricted from any external help, including electronic aid.

With the victory, IIUM scored a hat-trick after winning other debating tournaments like the Australasian Inter-varsity Debate (Australs) in July and the United Asian Debate Championship (UADC) last June.

When asked regarding their aspirations, the IIUM team said their target was to become champion of the World University Debate Championship (WUDC) which will be held in December at Thessaloniki, Greece. They will also be competing at the Oxford Inter-varsity Debate in Oxbridge in April 2017.

Mubarrat Wassey said that the team will definitely be working hard to ensure top placement in the two up coming debate championships. When enquired regarding their preparations, Ameera Natasha Moore said that it included lots of reading, memorizing fact sheets and practise debates.

In celebration of IIUM debate team success, and appreciation ceremony was held on 31 October to honour them. It was intended by President of IIUM, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais bin Yatim. At the ceremony, the debaters were awarded incentives by the Presidential Trust Fund.

DEBATE: ANOTHER WIN FOR IIUM AT ASIAN BRITISH PARLIAMENT

CHAMPIONSHIP

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IIUM Arabic debate team won second place in the non-native Arabic speaker category in the 4th International Universities Arabic Debating Championship (IUADC). Debaters from Qatar University took home the championship title. In the competition, IIUM was ranked 9th out of 16 teams which took part. IIUM defeated the team from University of Khartoum, Sudan in the quarter-final and advanced to the finals after defeating Birzeit University, Palestine, in the semi-final round.

Members of the IIUM team are:1) Abdul Rahim Ellias (KIRKHS)2) Mohd Ikmal Hakimi (IRKHS)3) Muhd Nurfirman Mohamed (IRKHS)4) Muhd Nazri Rostam (IRKHS)

IIUM also made history by becoming the first team represented by non-native Arabic speakers to reach the final of the Open Category. Br. Muhammad Nurfirman Mohamed was also listed as Third Best Speaker in the Arabic as a Second Language Category while the students from International Islamic University Islamabad and Islamic Science University of Malaysia emerged as first and second best speaker, respectively.

4th INTERNATIONAL

UNIVERSITIES ARABIC

DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIP

IIUM team at Qatar: From left: Ust. Salman, Ust Salah Awadalla Sidig Mohamed, Nazri Rostam, Abd Rahim Elllias,Muhd Nurfir-man Mohamed and Mohd Ikmal Hakimi

Muhd Nurfirman Mohamaed receiving his 3rd Best Speaker for ASL Category

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Gombak5/5/2017

Advisor of Socio-Cultural for Malaysian Government who is also President of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim attended the Rewang Budi programme at Mahallah Halimah IIUM Gombak Campus here today.

Rewang Budi 2017 was a programme organized by Office of Deputy Rector (Students Affairs) and BUDI (Centre for University Community Engagement) IIUM and was organized by Office of Deputy Rector (Students Affairs) and BUDI (Centre for University Community Engagement) IIUM.

The main objective of this programme was to provide a platform for the college residence administration and residents themselves to gather under one roof as one community to strengthen a sense of belonging to the university. The Rewang Budi event was envisioned as part of the efforts to inculcate high culture among IIUM community.

The Rewang Budi saw 1000 participants taking part that included Principals of Mahallah, Fellows, and management officers where they performed the gotong-royong in cleaning and sprucing up the mahallah premises. There were also cultural performance like pantun, traditional dance and cultural presentation as part of the Rewang Budi programme. IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin, Deputy Rector (Student Affairs) Prof. Datuk Dr. Mizan Hitam together with the university top management also attended.

STRENGTHENING MORAL VALUESTHROUGH IIUM REWANG BUDI 2017

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IIUM STUDENT VIDEO ON RAISING AWARENESS ON STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT WINS FIRST PLACE

IIUM students won first place in the Multimedia Video Competition (Mulvec) 2017. Their winning entry was about raising awareness among students to pay back their student loans or the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN).

According to team leader Ahmad Arif Ahmad Shauqi, 23, his team took about two weeks to complete their four-minute long video including shooting for video footage. He also added that he and his teammates chose the topic on student loan because it was a topic that was both relevant to the nation and directly connected to university students like themselves. Other team members of the winning team were Raja Muhammad Haqimi Raja Aris Fadilah, 23, and Mohammad Abrar Shahrin, 25. All came from Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design.

They received a RM 10,000 cash prize which was presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh. Mulvec 2017 prize giving ceremony was organized by Ministry of Higher Education and sponsored by Utusan Online.

Ahmad Arif and his teammates urged all students who took out the PTPTN student loan to regard repayment of their student loans seriously. For the IIUM team, students who did not take their responsibility of paying back their loans were depriving other students the opportunity to study in universities.

IIUM students received a RM 10,000 cash prize which was presented by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri

Idris Jusoh

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IIUM RECEIVESSELF-ACCREDITATION

STATUS FROM MQAIIUM as a Tier 5 position holder in the Malaysian Higher Education Institution Rating System will now work even harder to ensure its academic programmes continue to fulfill the criteria lay down by the MQA in its self-accreditation process of evaluation. The MQA will re-evaluate the self-accreditation status every five years to ensure the institution sustains its academic quality.

On top of the self-accreditation, IIUM was recently ranked 46th in the world in the field of Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies by QS World University Rankings and ranked number one in Islamic banking and finance research publications by SCORPUS.

The self-accreditation status is a complex and meticulous process. In order to qualify for self-accreditation, a higher learning institution must first acquire Tier 5 in the Malaysian Higher Education Institution Rating System after operating more than ten years and then it must wait for an invitation from the Ministry of Education for an evaluation process by the MQA.

The other institutions that were also awarded the self-accreditation status were Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Monash University Malaysia, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak.

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) has received the self-accreditation status from the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA).

IIUM was among the five Malaysian public universities and four private higher learning institutions that received the status from MQA. The institutions received their certificates of accreditation at a ceremony attended by Datuk Seri Haji Idris Jusoh, Malaysia’s Minister of Higher Education.

The certification by MQA is a tremendous achievement for IIUM in guaranteeing quality higher education that meets global standards for all its students. IIUM Rector Dato’ Sri Prof Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin, in her reaction to IIUM’s achievement, said: “ We are absolutely pleased and proud with this status. All our hard work and planning have paid off. At the same time IIUM also realizes that it could not afford to remain complacent since IIUM needs to sustain its stringent academic programmes in order to compete with other public and private higher learning institutions in Malaysia and around the world that have also received their own self-accreditation status”.

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By Aisyah Shasuddin

Malaysia has been rocked by the issue of amendment for RUU 355 (private bill) that is proposed by Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in Parliament on 26 May 2016 where the proposal raised the issue of hudud once again.Back in 1984, the Act was amended for three times pertaining to penalties on shari’ah offenders. However, this time around, the issue has become the debate on motion since it was proposed by a leader of the opposition party. As for now, the highest penalty that can be imposed on the offenders who commit seclusion, adultery or cohabitation according to the state Shariah Criminal Enactment are fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years or to whipping not exceeding six strokes or any combination thereof.

However, the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Revised 1984) (Act 355) has limit the power of the state to approve any law relating to criminal law and a Sharia court judge is only allowed with the penalties mentioned because RUU 355 is a law passed by Parliament and enforced throughout the country. Any amendment of

RUU 355 must be approved by the majority of parliament’s members.

The main objective of the RUU 355 amendments is to increase the jurisdiction of the Shariah Court to allow the Islamic judicial profession. If studied carefully, the contents of RUU 355, Hudud has nothing to do with the application of the RUU 355 amendments proposed since the application seeks to strengthen the punishment mentioned in shariah penal law. The current penalties can be seen as no more relevance to the state and it does not really give the great impact to the offenders who are Muslims. Thus, what is proposed is to increase the maximum penalty that is consistent with Islamic law as total fines, imprisonment and strokes will be determined by the Legislative Assembly itself.

Thus, this bill is not a bill on Islamic law. RUU 355 is a substantive procedure that all parties, including non-Muslims can express their views in the content of the rules of this law. In addition, non-Muslims should not oppose and question about it as amendment 355 is an amendment relating to the jurisdiction of the Shariah Court. Federal

Is RUU 355 a back door to

‘HUDUD LAW’?

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MALAYS AMONG THE HIGHEST OF 4 MILLION ELIGIBLE BUT YET TO REGISTER AS VOTERS

By Ajwad Amal8/3/17

Malays are among the highest of more than four million eligible voters who are yet to register as voters, Malaysia’s Election Commission (EC) said today.

“The total count of those who have reached 21 stands at 4.4 million but yet to register as voters. Majority are Malays. We got the statistic from the National Registration Department or Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN),” said Abdul Fatah Mohd Pilus, EC’s Assistant Director of Voter Education.

Currently, EC is working on more outreach and engagement around the country to spread awareness on the importance of registering as voters. The target is to see an increase in voter registration before the next general election that is expected around June 2018.

“One of the main factors affecting registration is the unregistered voters not confident with the election

system. That is our main challenge,” Fatah added saying that he is worried about the young generation getting wrong information through social media.

“It is not true that there is no transparency in the election process conducted by EC as perceived by some people. That is only their perception which is not correct.”

He said with the outreach programme that have been carried out such as in universities he hoped this would give a good impact on giving awareness about EC’s transparency and people power in this country.

This morning, Students’ Representative Council (SRC) has conducted Voters Educational Talk here at Main Auditorium. They invited speakers from EC to give information about EC’s role and simulation on the voting process.

SRC also opened a counter for voter registration on the ground in front of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque.

constitutional jurisdictions have established Shariah Courts for Muslims only and Act 355 section 2 also has explain that only Muslims can be tried and sentenced in Shariah Courts.

Some people say that this amendment will introduce hudud law in Malaysia. What RUU 355 proposes is increasing the power of the shariah court and it will only affect Muslims. The options to increase the sentence to the maximum rate are subject to the consideration and selection from the states in Malaysia. What matters is the increased penalty in RUU 355 will give space to the states to ensure greater effectiveness of law enforcement.

All in all, RUU 355 has nothing to do with adding more powers to the Shariah Court to try cases of theft or robbery, rape or even murder. Even if RUU 355 was approved, the shariah court will still be confined to covering cases of adultery and indecency, defamation, adultery and gambling and alcohol. It is quite frustrating when the Act is associated with hudud law by some irresponsible inviduals who maliciously try to cause chaos among the public by deflecting from the main contents of the Act which are needed to safe guard Muslim morality.

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2370 NEW IIUM

STUDENTS PARTICIPATED

IN BAI’AH CEREMONY

Petaling Jaya,8/6/2017

The Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS), IIUM Petaling Jaya Campus held the Bai’ah Ceremony or pledge taking for all new students at Al-Malik Faisal Hall here today. The ceremony was part of the Ta’aruf (Orientation) Programme which started on 3rd of June 2017.

A total 2370 new students, 870 male and 1500 female, were selected among 80,000 applicants who had wanted to be part of the IIUM family. Some of the new students had their Ta’aruf Programme earlier at the Centre for Foundation Studies, IIUM Gambang Campus, based on their chosen course of study. The remainder of the students had their bai’ah in the Petaling Jaya Campus.

The ceremony was officiated by IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato’ Seri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin and accompanied by Prof. Dr. Isarji Haji Sarudin, Deputy Rector of Academic and Planning, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mizan Hitam, Deputy Rector of Students Affairs, Dato’ Abdul Rahim Ahmad, Executive Director of Management Services Division, Dean of CFS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shamsul Jamili Yeob, Deputy Deans, Head of Departments, Principle of Mahallahs and Lecturers of CFS IIUM.

Dean of CFS, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shamsul Jamili Yeob urged students to actively participate in student clubs and programmes at CFS. Their involvement in student extra-curricular activities will equip them with new set of skills that they might not acquire by being inside the classroom only. He also mentioned that the 2017 Bai’ah Ceremony would be the last to be held in CFS Petaling Jaya Campus. Beginning next year, all new intakes will be registered at CFS Gambang Campus.

About 149 committees made up mostly of students from both IIUM Petaling Jaya and Gambang Campus had worked together to ensure the smooth running of the programme. According to the Programme Manager, Br. Umar Danial, after the bai’ah ceremony, all Departments in CFS will be conducting its course briefings to all new students before classes begin.

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By Mazlan Yusof3/3/17

The annual concert Citra Muzikal, organised by CITRA, a musical and cultural unit of IIUM, held at IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC) last night was a success.

The concert with the theme “Budi Setahun, Segunung Intan” (A year of virtue equals to a mountain of diamond)received a rousing welcome from the audience going by the enthusiastic applause throughout the concert.

In attendance was IIUM President Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Rais Yatim, IIUM Rector, Prof. Dato Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin, deputy rectors, and senior figures from the government and music and entertainment industry. The main hall of the ICC was packed with audience.

The concert saw 131 musical performers showing off their talents which included the gamelan, caklempong, angklung, modern percussions, keyboard, violin, flute, drums, guitar, accordion.

All the performers were full time IIUM students coming from different kulliyyahs and departments. The performers were supported by vocal groups, singers, and dancers.

The songs were in tune with the concert ‘s theme, mostly about the value of virtue and good deeds. Together they all put up a rousing foot-tapping Malay and contemporary musical numbers and dances.

Added to the mix throughout the concert was a professional-level sound and light show.

The two MC’s at the CITRA concert were students from Malaysia and Guinea who dazzled the crowd with Malay pantuns (Malay oral poetic forms).

The final musical number of the concert was a rendition of a song whose lyrics was penned by IIUM President called “Budi Tamadun Kita” (virtue is our civilisation).

At the end of the exciting two-hour long concert Tan Sri Rais announced that a RM50,000 budget allocation was to be set aside to sustain CITRA’s amazing development into a university asset.

If anything to go by based on last night’s CITRA concert, the President was confident the unit would become the platform to showcase IIUM as well as the Malay-Muslim cultural heritage to the world.

CITRA REVIVING MUSIC AND

CULTURE IN IIUM

EVENTS

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INCULCATING HIGH CULTURE AMONG

UNIVERSITY STUDENTSGombak,18/5/2017

The Government Socio-cultural Advisor Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim cum President of IIUM launched the Semarak Budaya Tinggi (SEBUTIK) programme on 18 May in IIUM Gombak.

SEBUTIK is a series of programme to inculcate high culture concepts among people from different walks of life, especially university students as they will lead the country in future. The programme was inspired by Tan Sri Dr. Rais following the Kongres Kebudayaan 2017 which was held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) recently.

In his speech, Tan Sri Rais called for a serious and integrated effort to inculcate high culture among the younger generation especially among university students. This high culture is essential for the younger generation as it could lead to the creation of a dynamic Malaysian society and in parallel with the vision of making Malaysia a developed nation with high cultural values.

SEBUTIK hoped to assist the nation that is developing rapidly in all aspects of human activities, to embrace high culture practices that are related to daily life activities and human interactions.

Tan Sri Rais also cautioned about how the nation’s development could collapse if cultural values were to be taken for granted especially for a country with multi-cultural background like Malaysia. He further added that a stronger sense of cultural bonding and oneness among its people was necessary for Malaysians to be respected internationally.

Several activities were organized in conjuction with the campaign such as cultural talk, motivational camp, seminar, and charity drive. IIUM Rector Professor Dato’ Seri Dr. Zaleha Haji Kamarudin and other university senior administrators were also present at the event which was held at Cultural Activities Centre (CAC) IIUM.

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SHASMOSQUE

Ihya Ramadhan Programme to

Celebrate Ramadhan

Gombak,26/5/2017

The Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (SHAS) Mosque of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) held a “Bubur Lambuk” cooking event at Foyer 1, Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Mosque, IIUM Gombak campus.

The “bubur lambuk” was one of the many programmes included in the Ihya Ramadhan Programmes to fill the month of Ramadhan with meaningful spiritual activities on a collective level such as Qur’an recitation, Iktikaf, breaking of fast, and qiyyamulail.

The cooking of the bubur lambuk started at 8 a.m where briefing for volunteers was conducted after breakfast. Deputy Rector of student affairs, Prof Datuk Dr. Mizan Hitam was among the volunteers including personnel from Daya Bersih and Kulliyyah of Engineering. The Director of SHAS Mosque, Dr. Abdul Salam later launched the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Ya Ramadhan programme of 1428H/2017 with the preparations for cooking the bubur lambuk kicked into high gear.

Cooking and packing of the bubur lambuk was completed before Zuhr prayer. The distribution of the bubur lambuk packs began at 1.30 p.m and by 5 p.m all packs were collected.

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IIUM PRESIDENT AND RECTOR ATTEND

IFTAR WITH STAFF

Gombak,13 /6/2017

President of IIUM,Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim joined university staff for breaking of fast (Iftar)at Banquet Hall. Also in attendance were Rector Prof.Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin and top management staffs.

At the event, Tan Sri Rais also presented financial aid to nineteen staff. They included staff who were single parents, staff with family members suffering from chronic medical ailment, and staff with special needs. In his speech, Tan Sri Rais talked about the need to increase Muslim generosity to help those in need in any way that they can. It could be in the form of money, time, energy or even skills. He added, a Muslim spiritual pursuit would be wanting, if they do not spare a serious thought for those who are less fortunate then himself.

Al-Misbah PAGE 21

By Nur Syazwani Ibrahim12/12/16

An exhibition of the “Wonders of Carving in Jogjakarta” by third year students of the Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED) was successfully held in IIUM campus here from 13 to 15 February, attended by visitors from inside and outside the university.

The exhibition this time was quite different from before because it was associated more with entrepreneurship by making products like paintings, handicrafts, including copper tooling of Jogjakarta, for sales. The products were mainly carvings on five materials which covered wood, silver, pottery, stone and leather.

“Preparation for the exhibition was made in our class of Heritage and Contemporary studies last semester.But most of the displayed products were originally brought from Jogjakarta,” said the exhibition’s programme manager, Muhammad Syarafuddin Ahmad.

Some of the products were also made by the students and the most attractive one was copper tooling made by Nurul Aqila that cost RM7000. Besides that, other products included sketches, paintings and embroideries.

“IIUM President Tan Sri Rais himself bought six canvases, one mural and one sketch,” Syarafuddin added.

This event managed to attract a number of visitors, both outsiders and insiders, as it displayed many carving designs that were very unique. Even though their features were quite similar with the Malaysian type of carvings, they were more complex in terms of its usage.

“It’s amazing and I’m proud to be a Javanese,” said Kartika Purwandani, one of the visitors from the Kulliyyah of Education.

Syarafuddin hoped the event would help prepare junior students in organizing future exhibitons on art and culture of Jogjakarta.

Jogjakarta Carving ExhibitionBY KAED STUDENTS A SUCCESS

Al-MisbahPAGE 22

IIUM HONORS ITS EXCELLENT STAFF AT

QUALITY DAY 2017

to encourage more staff to conduct research in line towards making IIUM a more research-oriented higher learning institution.

The 2017 Quality Day celebration was all the more meaningful as in 2016 IIUM had received its Self-Accreditation Status Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in which university was given the trust to self-accredit its academic programmes .

Nearly 2,000 of IIUM community together with Rector of IIUM, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin and senior university officials attended the quality day celebration. Also in attendance were representatives from the Immigration Department of Malaysia, National Registration Department (JPN) and The National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN).

Below is the list of award categories:1. Zaid bin Thabit Award2. IIUM Journal Award3. Highest Number of Publication in Citation - Indexed

Journal Award4. Ismail Al’Faruqi Publication Award – Book with high impact5. The Most Productive Researcher Award6. Murabbi Award7. Staff Sport Award8. Administrative Staff Award9. President’s Budi Award10. Mahallah Award11. Quality Agency Award

Gombak,27/4/2017

IIUM honored its excellent staff in the Penganugerahan Pekerja Cemerlang (Excellent Staff Award) ceremony in conjunction with IIUM Quality day 2017 at Main Hall, IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC) here today.

IIUM Quality day is an annual celebration that acknowledges and honors staff who have given exemplary services to the university from among both the administrative and academic. This years’s Quality Day carried the theme “Quality Through Action”. Staff who excelled in their work were honored in 11 award categories.There were also categories for best researchers

Al-Misbah PAGE 23

IIUM AND IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT OF MALAYSIA ESTABLISHED STRATEGIC

COOPERATIONGombak,6/1/2017

IIUM and Immigration Department of Malaysia signed a strategic cooperation agreement in a formal ceremony held at Banquet Hall, IIUM Gombak Campus.

Rector Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin and Deputy Rector (Internationalization & Industry and Community Relations), Prof. Dr. Abdel Aziz Berghout signed on behalf of IIUM while the Immigration Department of Malaysia was represented by its Head Director, Datuk Sri Haji Mustafar Haji Ali and Director of Corporate Planning and Strategic, Datuk Azlan bin Johar. Also in attendance were President of IIUM, Tan Sri Datuk Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim and other senior IIUM and Immigration Department officials.

Among the cooperation that would be taking place between IIUM and Immigration Department is the exchange of expertise in terms of research and sharing of knowledge leading to both parties to run internship programmes for students and staffs.

The strategic cooperation would also encompass jointly organized training courses. This would facilitate greater efficiency for IIUM in dealing with issues relating to foreign students whose number of enrolment continues to grow. At present, about 5,055 international students are studying in IIUM which makes it the highest among higher learning institutions in Malaysia. For IIUM, its Centre for Strategic Continuing Education & Training (CRESCENT) would be playing a key role in running the training course.

Cooperation between IIUM and Immigration Department is the exchange of expertise in terms

of research and sharing of knowledge

Al-MisbahPAGE 24

INAUGURAL LECTURE BY DIRECTOR GENERAL, IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT OF MALAYSIA,

DATO’ SRI HAJI MUSTAFAR BIN HAJI ALI“BORDERLESS WORLD: SAFEGUARDING SOVEREIGNTY OF THE NATION”

Gombak,19/4/2017

Director General Immigration Department of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Haji Mustafar bin Haji Ali delivered a Grand Lecture in conjunction with IIUM Global Forum held at Senate Hall, IIUM Gombak Campus today.

He gave the lecture in front of 200 students and staff on the topic “Borderless World: Safeguarding Sovereignty of The Nation”. The lecture was a follow-up from the teamwork strategic agreement that was signed by IIUM and the Immigration Department last January. One of outcomes from the strategic agreement was to organize a series of forum by inviting officers from Immigration Department of Malaysia to share their experience and knowledge that would benefit the IIUM community.

This forum was organized in light of the new and complex challenges brought by globalization and the borderless

world faced by governments around the world. Issues such as cross border crossing, influx of refugees, and labor migration would affect how government agencies and related institutions operate.

Present at the lecture were IIUM President cum Socio-Cultural Advisor for Malaysian Government, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim, Rector, Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin, Deputy Rector (Internationalization & Industry and Community Relations) IIUM, Prof. Dr. Abdelaziz Berghout, Immigration officers and students.

Al-Misbah PAGE 25

PRE-CONGRESS ON CREATIVE CONTENT TO HELP FORMULATE AND PROMOTE LOCAL

VALUES AND CULTUREGombak,19/4/2017

Centre for International Islamic Culture (CITRA) of International Islamic University Malaysia IIUM hosted the Forum Discussion on Cultural Pre Congress 2017 on Creative Content held at Conference Hall, IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC) today.

The theme of pre-congress was “Cultural Heritage and Creative Content Industry ” and was attended by figures from the filmmaking industry, broadcast and satellite television, independent electronic content creator, political activist and academic. The keynote speaker was Tan Sri Johan Jaafar formerly of the Media Prima Group.

Other figures included Vice President of Malay Business section at ASTRO, Dato’ Khairul Anwar Salleh, film producer and director Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba, Operation Director, founder and producer from Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, Haji Burhanuddin Md

Radzi, writer Datuk Dr. Anwar Ridhwan, Dr. Shafizan Mohamed from Communication Department, IIUM and Professor Mohamad Md Yusoff, Centre of Communication Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Director of CITRA IIUM, Dr. Mahadi J. Murat moderated the forum. Among the top issue debated was the lack of local contents intended for a global audience as had been successfully achieved by content creators from India, South Korea and Iran whose success stories can be the template for local creators. Hj. Burhanuddin whose media content company created and owned the hugely popular of Upin dan Ipin characters, urged local content creators not to create contents meant only for the local Malaysian market since it was a small one of only 30 million. They should instead think global of the over 200 million speakers of the Malay language.

Resolutions from the one-day forum would be forwarded to the. Cultural Congress 2017 which would be taking place on 15 April 2017 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and would be officiated by the Prime Minister.

Al-MisbahPAGE 26

Activities at the Siswapreneur programme included sharing sessions by Biz Feed Gen-Y students’ entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship challenge called Real Business Challenge, product demonstrations, fashion and makeup tutorial from students. Products made by stduents were also on sale including those from IIUM who were promoting their biscuits, scarfs, and beverages.

Chief Secretary of Ministry of Higher Education Tan Sri Dr. Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur attended the programme on day two to show her full support to the young entrepreneurs. She said that MOHE would always support platforms which help encourage more student participation in entrepreneurial activities so that Malaysia would be able to achieve the status of high income nation faster. She hoped more students would opt entrepreneurship as the preferred career option once they have completed their studies.

STUDENTS SHOWCASE THEIR ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS AT

SISWAPRENEUR PROGRAMME AT BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE

Kuala Lumpur,11/6/2017

Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) held the Siswapreneur Showcase programme at Boulevard Central, Berjaya Times Square from 9 until 11 June 2017 and carried the theme Hayati Ramadhan, Syukuri Syawal.

The programme intended to build confidence among students in putting into practice knowledge and entrepreneurship skills they have acquired. The institutions which participated were Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) , Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), and polytechnics and community colleges including those from Sabah and Sarawak.

Al-Misbah PAGE 27

Gombak,19/4/2017

Other than a sterling name it has created for itself in academics, research and debate, IIUM has also built quite a name for itself in student sport activities.

Three of its student athletes Muhammad Nasharuddin Ismail, Norlina Ahmad Zainal and Mohd Syafiq Danial Wan Shariman have brought IIUM’s name to the world stage in the sports of rugby, field hockey and karate respectively. Their success was due in part to IIUM Sports Development Centre (SDC)’s successful athletics development programme in honing sports talents among students on campus.

Muhammad Nasharuddin is a regular in the Malaysian national rugby team and was part of the team that won silver medal at the Singapore SEA 7’s in in April of this year. He also has vast experience on the international stage competing in the Asian rugby 7’s in Hong Kong in September last year as well as the Cockburn 7’s in Australia in February this year.

Nasharuddin, who is IIUM sportsman of the year 2016, along with the Malaysian squad will be hunting for gold later this year in the Kuala Lumpur SEA games. Norlina has represented Malaysia which will be competing for a medal in the SEA games in August later this year. The student from the Kulliyyah of Economics has taken part in a pre-SEA games friendly in Australia earlier this year and she represented Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysian Women’s Hockey League 2016 where her team won bronze.

Mohd Syafiq, a student also from the Kulliyyah of Economics, won four medals last year in the Majlis Sukan Universiti Malaysia games as well as the Higher Education Institution games in 2016. Three of them being gold medals. The first year student also represented Malaysia at the Intercollegiate Games in Taiwan recently.

The success of IIUM student athletes on international level has done justice to IIUM university sporting logo, the Mustangs with its slogan “Prancing Higher”. Deputy Rector of Student Affairs, Professor Datuk Mizan Hitam, in his comments said the students’ success reflected the aspirations of IIUM in producing “Thinking Athletes with Holistic Personalities”.

There will be a formal event to honor IIUM athletes later this year.

SPORTS

IIUM SALUTES ITS

OUTSTANDING STUDENT ATHLETES

Mohammad Nasharuddin Ismail in action during Malaysia vs France match at World University Games 2016, Swansea, Wales

Mohd Syafiq Danial Wan Shariman doing his routines in the semi final at the National Intercollegiate Athletic Games, 2017, Chinese Taipei

OPINION

Are you interested in the findings on Malaysian adolescents, especially pertaining to contemporary challenges in current digital and global age? The findings are shocking, yet interesting and would definitely be valuable to policy makers, social counsellors, community workers, parents, teachers and the public.

Malaysian Adolescents: Cognitive and Psychosocial presents research findings of 4404 Malaysian adolescents (16 years old) nationwide.

This book contains eleven chapters with an array of topics such as smoking, drug taking and alcohol consumption, self-esteem and resilience, relationship with families, cognitive reasoning abilities, moral choice and moral reasoning; citizenship literacy and their aspirations.

Being a research-based book, the results are supported by primary evidences which add validity to the findings.

OFFICE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONInternational Islamic University MalaysiaLevel 2, Rectory,IIUM Gombak Campus

P.O Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

MALAYSIAN ADOLESCENTS:

COGNITIVE ANDPSYCHO-SOCIAL

Title: Malaysian Adolescents: Cognitive and PsychosocialEditors: Lihana Borhan, Fatimah Hashim & Juliana OthmanPublisher: IIUM PressPrice: RM57.00Pages: 129Year: 2014

OfficialIIUM

OfficialIIUM www.i ium.edu.my

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