A Harmonisation unit previously known as The Harmonisation of Shari’ah and Law unit was established in May 2002, as a subcommittee under the Kulliyyah Research Unit. It has been initiated in AIKOL to organize programmes on harmonisation of Shari’ah and law and Islamisation of laws. Since its inception, this unit has organized in the past several conferences and seminars which was one the objectives of the unit. Based on available records, the first seminar was held on 20-21 October, 2003, at the Regent Hotel Kuala Lumpur with the theme ‘Harmonisation of Syariah and Civil Law’ with an introduction on the concept of harmonisation. The details of the unit activities and the report regarding the conference were detailed out by Professor Hashim Kamali in Harmonisation of Syariah and Civil law: The Framework and Modus Operandi, IIUM Law Journal Vol.11, Number 2, 2002 This was followed by another conference jointly organised by AIKOL and JKSM on 30th June 2005 at Pan Pacific Hotel on the theme ‘Towards a Methodology of Harmonisation’. The 4th International Conference on Syariah Civil law was held in 2009, co organised with AGC.
Besides seminars and conferences, the Harmonisation unit focuses more on publication of research papers with selected agencies either by individual members of AIKOL or as a group project. For example in 2014, many AIKOL lecturers were involved in an extensive research project jointly conducted with IKIM in addressing larger areas of law that need to be harmonised. A report on ‘Kajian Pengharmonian Undang-undang Bertulis’ was published by IKIM in 2016. FAME, Aikol research cluster together with CFRU, jointly organinsed a seminar on Human Rights in Islam and published a book with IIUM Press entitled ‘ Issues on Harmonisation of Human Rights in Islam’ 2016. Universiti Islam Malaysia has published chapters in book on harmonisation of laws relating to the conflict of jurisdiction between Syariah and Civil courts on the title’ Article 121 Perlembagaan Persekutuan; Sejauhmanakah Artikel ini penyelesaikan konflik antara Mahkamah Syariah dan Mahkamah Civil’. Among articles contributed by authors are ‘Conflict of Jurisdiction between Civil And Syariah Courts; Dichotomy and Harmonisation’, ‘Artikel 121 (1A) Sejauh manakah ianya menyelesaikan konflik Bidangkuasa antara Mahkamah Syariah dan Mahkamah Sivil’ to mention a few. The book was published in 2017.
In late 2020, Harmonisation Unit, jointly organised a seminar with JKSM on a broader theme of Family law and Maqasid Syariah. Several books were published. In enhancing further the programme of the unit, more activities were planned focusing on harmonization of laws as the core business.
The objectives of the Unit adhere to the earlier objectives dated back to the day of its inception. The objectives are as follows;
- to oversee the programme of harmonisation of law and Syariah at AIKOL
- to organise related programmes
- to propose methodological guidelines for the Harmonisation of Shari’ah and law at AIKOL
- to propose and assist in the organisation of seminars and conferences relating to Harmonisation of law and Shari’ah in AIKOL.
The term harmonization in itself has invited legal scholars to debate on the appropriate methodology to be used. Some scholars agree that harmonization is referring to the process of bringing one thing into harmony or agreement with another and it must be of two things that are not identical such as harmonization between Shari’ah and man-made law and put them on equal ground. While others view that the process should only involve Islamic Fiqh rather than the word Shari’ah which includes the divine law. In another context, harmonisation has been viewed as to be extended beyond Islamisation or conflicts between civil and Shari’ah laws. The fact that the law becomes transnational, it requires a new paradigm shift, different legal framework and the need for the law to be taught in comparative manner. This view supports the current legal setting where many Muslim countries ratify international treaties and certain provisions are inconsistent with Shari’ah framework. Obvious example is the provision on religious freedom under article 18 of UDHR 1948 which includes the right to apostate which is an offence in countries that are regulated by religious law. Therefore, imposing reservation to certain provisions in the convention can be viewed as one of the mechanisms to manage variety and differences between the two legal systems.
The above discussion explains that there is a diversity of approaches in understanding the concept of harmonization as well as the methodology. The process of harmonization of laws in Malaysia generally put Islam as the determining factor. This is due to the historical setting that segregated Islamic law from the Malaysia legal framework, except on personal law matters which used to be the Malay-Muslim law. For example, extending the power of the courts to include Syariah courts orders in federal and state laws is an example of Islamisation. In some cases, Islamisation works well when all legal principles involved in the dispute are in harmony and for the betterment of their implementation. However, in other situations, such an approach could result in further differences especially when the subject matter involves highly sensitive issues such as family related disputes. Therefore, it has been highlighted that harmonization in such cases must take into account all factors including the culture and politics of pluralistic society.
In another context, adat or customary law has been harmonized with Islamic law in addressing the rights of women to matrimonial property. The Muslim women are entitled to gain either half or one third from the property after divorce or death depending on their contribution in marriage. This law has been equally applicable to all parties including non-Muslim.
PATRON : PROF. DR FARID SUFIAN SHUIB (DEAN OF AIKOL)
COORDINATOR : PROF. DR AZIZAH MOHD
MEMBERS (July 2023 until June 2025)
(In the above picture, Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh presenting a mock cheque of RM5,000 to Professor Dato’ Dr Norbik Bashah Idris, representing the Rector of IIUM, accompanied by Professor Dr Farid Sufian Shuaib, the Dean of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, as a contribution towards the Resource and Coordination Centre for Harmonisation of Shari’ah and Law after delivering the 20th Emeritus Professor Ahmad Ibrahim Memorial Lecture on 7th March 2024)
Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, with the support of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, is working on establishing a Resource and Coordination Centre for Harmonisation of Shari’ah and Law. The initial step in establishing such a centre is by providing a space under the AIKOL website for researchers to find resources related to the harmonisation of Shari’ah and law. Such a centre was proposed to ensure the accessibility of materials and reports on harmonisation and to support and strategies research and efforts on harmonisation.
The following are existing resources that have a concentrated amount of materials related to the harmonisation of Shari’ah and law.
IIUM Knowledge Portal (iKnow) (link to https://iknow.iium.edu.my/search)
IIUM Knowledge Portal (iKnow) is one of the initiatives of the Dar al-Hikmah Library aimed at strengthening Knowledge Management within the University. iKnow serves as a one-stop search platform, connecting relevant IIUM knowledge across repositories and KCDIOM websites.
AIKOL has been working with Dar al-Hikmah Library in identifying materials which relate to the harmonisation of Shari’ah and law so that such material can be easily accessed through searching and browsing under iKnow.
2. IIUM Law Journal (link to https://journals.iium.edu.my/iiumlj/index.php/iiumlj)
The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Law Journal, published by the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, is a double-blind, peer-reviewed. The Journal is committed to fostering a deeper comprehension of the harmonization methodologies between Shari’ah and law, as well as promoting comparative legal scholarship.
The webpage of the journal contains a search function that could assist researchers interested in finding articles relating to the harmonisation of Shari’ah and law.
3.Conference Papers
Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah Laws has organised several conferences on harmonisation of Shari’ah and law starting from the first conference in 2003. Several of the conferences were jointly organised with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Department of Shariah Judiciary (JKSM).
Below are some of the papers presented at those conferences:
- The Harmony that exists between Waqf and trust
- Wafaqi Mohtasib Federal Ombudsman Institution An Effort of Harmonisation with Shariah
- The Myth of Corporate Personality An Overview from the Common Law and the Islamic Law Perspective
[IN PROGRESS]
4. Books
Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws published collections of papers relating to the harmonisation of Shari’ah and law. Academics of AIKOL also publish books or chapters in books related to harmonisation.
- Najibah Mohd Zin, Azizah Mohd, Norjihan Ab Aziz, Nasimah Husin, eds. (2023) Harmonisation of Shari‘ah and Law: Approaches and Progress. Gombak: Harun M Hashim Law Centre. ISBN 978-967-2424-46-8
[IN PROGRESS]