As we welcome our new students to IIUM Kuantan, I hope they will find a place where they can learn well, make friends and grow in confidence. I also hope they will help us build something that every university needs: a community where people care about how they live together.
For us, this means building an Islamic bi’ah. By bi’ah, I mean the environment we create through our habits, relationships and daily choices. An Islamic bi’ah should make it easier to practise our faith, seek knowledge honestly and treat others with dignity. Every new student has a part in shaping it.
The IIUM Centre for Natural and Health Sciences, Kuantan Campus, brings together 6 Kulliyyahs: Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences and Science. Our wider community includes SASMEC@IIUM, our teaching hospital; the Institute of Planetary Survival for Sustainable Well-being, or PLANETIIUM; and the Centre for Foundation Studies in Gambang.
Our Kuantan campus covers 1,000 acres, with 400 acres used for buildings and facilities and 600 acres of green hills and natural surroundings. We have much to appreciate and care for. But the quality of life here also depends on whether a student feels welcome, whether a staff member feels respected and whether someone who is struggling can ask for help.
That begins with the welcome we give. Ta’aruf is about getting to know one another. Ragging has no place in it. Seniors have a responsibility to guide new students with patience. No one should have to endure humiliation to feel that they belong. The first lesson we offer should be one of respect.
I want our students to think about the university they have joined. International means learning from people whose cultures and experiences differ from our own. Islamic asks us to let faith guide our conduct. University calls us to question, examine evidence and develop understanding. Being in Malaysia brings a responsibility to respect this country, its people and its diversity.
These words should have meaning in daily life. I hope students will read IIUM’s vision and mission, discuss them and ask what they require of us. A Tawhidic mind and Ummatic excellence must find expression in how we study, work and serve.
An important place to begin is our intention. Why have we come here? A degree and a good job are understandable hopes. Families have made sacrifices, and students want a better future. Yet an education should also help us consider what kind of person we are becoming and how others will benefit from what we know.
Seek knowledge to please Allah, improve yourself and be useful to others. Return to that intention when the work becomes difficult. Seek barakah in your learning. Knowledge and understanding ultimately come from Allah. Lecturers teach and guide us, and their effort deserves respect. We must do our part: study, practise, ask for help and pray for understanding. Then entrust the outcome to Allah.
I want our students to be thinking students. After a lecture, ask what you have actually understood. Can you explain it in your own words? Can you use it to solve a problem? Be willing to question an idea and to change your mind when the evidence requires it. Adab should guide that discussion. We can disagree and still respect one another.
As our knowledge grows, our humanity should grow too. A patient has fears and a family. A community may face difficulties we have never experienced. Listen before deciding what people need. This is why I keep returning to competence, compassion and conscience. We need people who know their work, care about its effect on others and have the courage to do what is right.
An Islamic bi’ah becomes visible in small actions. Greet the security guard. Thank the cleaner. Respect the staff who support your learning. Be punctual and honour your commitments. Observe university rules, modesty and the adab of interactions between men and women. These daily habits affect everyone who shares the campus with us.
Compassion also matters when we address difficult or sensitive questions, including those concerning sexuality and gender. Our discussions should be guided by Islamic teachings, knowledge and adab. Upholding religious principles requires care in how we speak to people. Mockery, public humiliation and harassment should have no place here. Someone seeking guidance should be able to approach a trusted counsellor or qualified religious adviser respectfully and privately.
Our online behaviour is part of this environment too. Before sharing a post, check whether it is true. Respect privacy. Do not turn someone else’s difficulty into entertainment. Use artificial intelligence responsibly and remain accountable for your work. If a tool finishes an assignment but you understand nothing, what have you gained? Learning still requires your attention and effort.
The responsibility belongs to staff and university leaders as well. We must model the conduct we ask of students. We need to listen, explain decisions fairly and respond to concerns with respect. A caring campus grows when people can see these values in those who teach and lead them.
My hope is that our students will eventually return to serve their communities with both knowledge and humility. They can begin now by volunteering, helping a friend and learning to work with people beyond their own circle. Service helps us understand why our studies matter.
To our new students, welcome to the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue. Help us make it a place where faith guides learning, people look after one another and knowledge is used for good. May Allah bless your efforts and guide you to become people whose presence benefits others.