Forging Impactful Partnership between KIRKHS and Local, International Community

 By Ainul Azmin Md Zamin

The philosophy of IIUM is based on the belief that knowledge must be pursued as continuous worship (ibadah) and as a trust (amanah) which the Almighty has put upon us. A verse in Surat al-Isra’ tells us that ‘The hearing, sight and hearts will all be questioned’ (al-Isra’, 17:36). In the Day of Judgment, we are all accountable for the knowledge bestowed upon us and we will be questioned whether we have used them and managed them properly in the best interest of the ummah.

As the Kulliyyah that focuses on integrating Islamic Revealed Knowledge with Human Sciences, relevantising KIRKHS in the New Zeitgeist reflects several interventions as outlined in the HEAVE Road Map. The interventions include (a) Humanising Education; (b) Advancing Edification of Individuals; (c) Valorising Institutions: and (d) Engaging the communities. The Kulliyyah aims to play an active role in engaging with both communities, inside and outside of the campus.

In this regard, the Office of Internationalisation and Global Network, KIRKHS has been established to forge sustainable links and smart partnership between KIRKHS with local and international institutes of higher learning and industrial community. These goals are encapsulated for the students, for the community and for the knowledge.

The Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences plans to move forward by linking the university’s strategic direction with the Kulliyyah’s intellectual, social and educational functions. This can be done via synergised academic activities vis a vis the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Kulliyyah also aspires to engage the KIRKHS community in designing activities that support their respective department’s ethos and uphold the Kulliyyah’s way forward. In other words, the Kulliyyah community is empowered to change the way its community think and work towards ensuring a sustainable future.

With the current challenging situations, the Kulliyyah is proactive in its effort to collectively design appropriate and effective ways to strengthen the function and delivery system of the Kulliyyah. To augment the focus on Integration, Islamisation, Sustainable Development Goals, and Sustainability Led Campus, four SDGs projects with the following themes are formulated;

Good health and Wellbeing (SDG theme 3),

Quality education (SDG theme 4),

Sustainable cities and communities (SDG theme 11),

Peace justice and strong institutions (SDG theme 16).

The Office of the Internationalisation and Global Network is entrusted to coordinate the activities related to internationalisation and global visibility of the KIRKHS. It is aimed to facilitate events such as to organise lectures or talks by guest scholars from home and abroad. It also initiates new Memorandum of Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding in building networks with international academic and non-academic organisations. The office also facilitates students and academics to participate in new exchange or mobility programmes across the globe.

Another task at hand is organising international conferences or seminars as well as facilitating workshops for global visibility of KIRKHS. Besides taking care or handling issues related to international students of the Kulliyyah, the office constantly receives visitors such as students, faculty members, guests and other stakeholders, both local and international.

Another main area under the purview of the International Office is to invite renowned scholars, visiting professors and high profile scholars to the KIRKHS and IIUM. The office is also responsible for establishing partnerships with foreign institutions of higher learning with its purpose to promote the Kulliyyah’s academic programme such as joint degree, twinning programme mode and even exploring the possibility of setting up of IIUM offshore academic programme with a special focus of KIRKHS.***

(The writer, Dr. Ainul Azmin Md Zamin is Head, Internationalisation and Global Network in the Office of Deputy Dean of Student Development and Community Engagement, KIRKHS)

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