The Shariah and Law Education in Malaysia in the Context of Legal Practice

The Malaysian legal education evolves in the recent years due to the interest of the stakeholders in the legal industry. Among the vibrant development in the Malaysian legal education is the assimilation of Shariah education in legal education. Up to date, only International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and Islamic Science University of Malaysia (USIM) offer Shariah education and legal education with an objective of enabling the graduates to practice in both fields in Malaysia. This is an added value for the graduates which contributes positively to the Malaysian need of graduates having both qualities of Shariah and Law. The challenge in providing such education is unique. Not only must the institution ensure adequate and appropriate curriculum structure, it must also provide capable educators in both fields and fulfill other requirements. This paper adopts qualitative study involving interviews of experts, collection and analyses of data from the universities, Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) and Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia. It also involves doctrinal analysis of the corpus of knowledge on Shariah and law education. The outcome of the paper shows the need of legal and Shariah education in Malaysia and describes the running of the programmes offered by this nature.