Faculties

Prof. Dato’ Sri Dr. Zaleha Kamarudin was appointed the first female rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia, in 2011 making her the first woman to head an Islamic university in the Muslim world. During her tenure as the Rector, she has successfully developed and completed five big projects based on PFI, which include: the completion of residential colleges accommodating 5,000 students, the first teaching hospital in Malaysia which is Shari’ah compliant located in Indera Mahkota campus, the university mosque in Kuantan, and two more campuses (i.e. Gambang campus for ... show more Centre for Foundation students and Pagoh campus for Kulliyyah of Languages and Management). Two buildings were also initiated and completed during her tenure at the Waqf Complex based on Waqf from the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and the Ruler of Ajman. She is also the first woman to be appointed as a Shariah Appellate Court Judge (Terengganu) in Malaysia’s Shariah judicial history, in 2018. Prior to her appointment as the Rector of IIUM, she was on secondment as the Deputy Director-General of the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM). At the State level, she was appointed as a member of the Selangor Council of Religious Affairs (MAIS) for 10 years (2004 – 2014) and also a member of the Fatwa Committee for the State of Selangor. Recently, in 2020, she has been appointed as a member of the Religious Council of Pahang. She is the Deputy-Chair for the Board of Governors of University College Yayasan Pahang (UCYP) and also chairs the Yayasan Tabung Tuanku Chancellor of UCYP. At the Federal level, she was a member of the Technical Committee on Shariah and Civil Laws (2005-2018), Department of Islamic Religious Affairs, Prime Minister’s Department, where she was involved in drafting fourteen model laws. As an appointed member of the National Religious Council, she was appointed to chair the Panel on Current Issues on Women and Islam (PISWI) from 2010 until 2018. PISWI was sanctioned by the Council of Rulers as a think-tank with specific mandate in contemporary issues involving Islam, women and children’s rights. In 2017, she was also appointed as the Head, Law Cluster for the Islamic Consultative Council. Recently in 2019, she has been appointed as an exco member of Inns of Court, Malaysia. Internationally, she is recognized as a leading authority on Comparative Family Laws focusing on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other relevant Hague Conventions applicable to family and children. Her research interest includes Private International Law with specific focus on cross-border children’s issues. Professor Zaleha was also invited by the Government of Canada (co-Chair of the Working Party on Mediation) in cooperation with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present keynote addresses on the Islamic perspectives on cross-border Parental Child Abduction in April 2014 at The Hague, November 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, June 2015 in Macau and June 2016 in Tokyo. She was also appointed as an Independent Expert by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCLH) in Malta IV Conference in May 2016 and as a Resource Person in the Focus Group Discussion on ‘Compatibility of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (The 1980 Convention) to Islam and Indonesia National Law in November 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia. She has also been appointed as expert witness on custody cases involving Malaysians in the Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom. Professor Zaleha has been invited as a keynote speaker in various conferences from the Far East to the West. In 2009, she was invited as a guest of Lord Daniel Brennan and spoke on “governance of Islamic Family Law” at a programme in the House of Lords, UK. She was also invited to deliver the prestigious 13th Al-Sanhuri Annual Lecture at Harvard Law School in 2012, where she spoke on the transformation of the Islamic legal system in the 21st century. In May 2012, she delivered a keynote speech at a High-Level Thematic Debate at the UN headquarters in New York. In March 2014, she underwent training in Geneva on procedures for preparation on claims to the Human Rights Council and attended Regular Sessions on observer status. In March 2019, she represented the OIC Women Consultative Council in a high-level panel discussion at the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) in New York. As a consultant trainer who believes in research-based contributions in women’s issues, Professor Zaleha has been actively involved in UN-Habitat training workshops all over the world. She is also engaged with the International Institute of Public Policy and Management (INPUMA), University of Malaya training programs where she is known as a champion of women rights through property rights. She is currently preparing a training module with her team based on her edited book entitled Approaches to Empowering Muslim Women through Property Rights. She is also a Deputy-Chair (Asia) in the OIC Women Advisory Council (2016-2020). In 2019, she was appointed as chair of working committee on promotion of the OIC Plan of Action on Advancement of Women (OPAAW). She spent her sabbatical leave in 2019 to focus on OPAAW and was appointed as part of the team to work on an OIC project to develop strategic plan for marriage and family institution. She is also actively involved in the drafting of the OIC Gender Policy. In 2005, she headed a major consultancy project on “Assessing Delays in Disposition of Matrimonial Cases in the Malaysian Shariah Courts” followed by “Assessing Delays in Implementation of Maintenance Orders in the Malaysian Shariah Courts”. These researches provided a strong basis for the setting up of the Family Support Authority in Malaysia. She has also collaborated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development in 2008 on a major consultancy project entitled “Towards Achieving 30 Percent Women as Decision-Makers.” Her research served as an impetus for the historical appointment of women judges in the Shariah judiciary in Malaysia. In 2014, she was appointed by the Malaysian Government as a Lead Consultant to develop the Maqasid Shariah Index for Malaysia, and at the successful completion of the project, she was appointed in 2015 as the Deputy Chairman of the Governance of Maqasid Shariah Index Committee. Her expertise is also acknowledged by the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) based in Milan, Italy, by listing her in “Who’s Who” database in law and religion. Her experience as a member of the Board of Governors for the Asian Law Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS), which was formed to facilitate collaboration and encourage excellence in research and teaching in Asian law (2005-2009), has assisted her network with all law schools in Asia. To date, she has published/edited twenty-five books, and more than one hundred articles in areas related to family law, children’s rights, and women’s rights. Professor Zaleha has served as the Chief Editor of IIUM Law Journal and Tafhim of IKIM. She is also a member of international advisory boards of several internationally refereed journals, including Islamic Studies of the Islamic Research Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan, Faculty of Business and Administration, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia, University Sharif Ali, Brunei Darussalam and KADEM, Journal of Women Studies, Turkey. For the past twenty years, she is a member of the International Society for Family Law (ISFL) and International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN). In terms of corporate experience, in her capacity as the Rector of IIUM she was a member of the Board of Directors’ of IIUM Holdings Sdn. Bhd; Board of Directors, OUM & UNITEM Sdn Bhd; and Member, Board of Directors METEOR Sdn Bhd. She was also a member of Board of Trustees of the Malaysian Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YAPEIM), 2012 – 2017; Member, Board of Directors, Yayasan Pahang, 2014 – 2018; Member, Board of Directors, Maahad Tahfiz Negeri Pahang (MTNP), 2012 – 2015.