It’s our third day in Malaysia. This afternoon flight will take you to Cambodia, a country in the north-east of Malaysia. Before that, you need to visit the International Islamic University, a very famous university in Malaysia. Suhail Hudavi Kooriad, a research student, had invited us there. It was that invitation that led us to the university to meet him before leaving. Take the metro from downtown Kuala Lumpur. Suhail Hudavi had given us guidance on the way and how to travel there. After a little early journey, we reached Gombek metro station. We were instructed to land here. Gombek was the last station of the metro line in this part. Many metro trains stop there. It is a major hub of the metro that starts and ends journeys to many places.
An Islamic university of international standard to spearhead educational movements in Muslim-majority areas and mold a new generation of religious and scientific knowledge has been the perennial aspiration of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation. IUM was established in 1983 as a realization of this dream. Since its inception, the university has maintained strict standards in terms of infrastructure and academic standards to attract international students. Following that, students from more than 100 countries are studying here. During this short span of time the university has managed to acquire a large network of more than 70,000 alumni.
The stated aim is to become the ‘Aram of Knowledge and Wisdom’. Currently, IIUM has three campuses in three locations in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Gombek and Kuantan. Along with Islamic sciences, more than twenty departments like medicine, law, engineering, management and Islamic banking are functioning in three campuses. Studies and researches on Islamic banking here are very popular. Jamia Markaz has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) relationship with the International Islamic University on student exchange and research.
We took a taxi from Gombek and headed towards the university. A visitor’s pass was obtained at the entrance. It is recommended to wear it full time while on the university campus. We wore it around the neck. The journey to campus felt like a canyon road. It is because of that greenness and darkness due to the beautiful big trees and plants planted around it. A beautiful large water fountain has been installed right in the center of the campus. Around it are displayed Arabic calligraphy letters and Quranic verses. All the buildings are built in a very beautiful and old fashioned way. There is no doubt that the aerial view of the institutional complexes will be very pleasing as the pale blue roofs are built on top of all the buildings. The color itself is a big highlight of most pictures of this campus.
Similarly, students in graduation programs also wear the same color. After going around the institutions we came to the main part of the campus. Suhail Hudavi arrived promptly. We asked him about his Malaysian experience. He has been spending here for several years. And I felt great joy and pride when I came to know that his wife is also doing research in the same campus.
We parted with all good wishes. The time is too late. International travel requires arriving at the airport at least three hours before arrival. Or many may even miss onward flights. We have less than three hours left in total. Returned to the airport with fear.