Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin (UniSIRAJ)

About Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin (UniSIRAJ)

Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, known by its short form UniSIRAJ, is a private Islamic university located in the state of Perlis in northern Peninsular Malaysia. The institution was originally established on 3 March 2013 as Kolej Universiti Islam Perlis (KUIPs) and was formally upgraded to full university status by the Department of Higher Education (Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi, JPT) through a letter of approval dated 15 November 2024. UniSIRAJ is named after Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail, the 12th Raja of Perlis and the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, who served as the Federation’s constitutional monarch from 2001 to 2006.

UniSIRAJ operates under the auspices of the Council of Religion and Malay Custom Perlis (Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Istiadat Melayu Perlis, generally abbreviated as MAIPs), the state religious authority of Perlis. Although the institution is registered as a private higher education provider with the Ministry of Higher Education, it is structurally distinct from commercially owned private universities in that its founding capital and continuing operations are anchored to a waqf endowment, an Islamic charitable trust mechanism in which property and capital are dedicated in perpetuity to a stated purpose. This places UniSIRAJ in the same broad category as the Albukhary International University in Alor Setar, which also operates on a waqf-funded model, although under different patronage.

The institution’s Chancellor is His Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, the Raja Muda of Perlis and son of the late namesake monarch. The Raja Muda was formally proclaimed Chancellor of UniSIRAJ for a five-year term effective 15 April 2025 to 14 April 2030, a role that combines the traditional ceremonial duties of a Malaysian university Chancellor with the patronage role he has held over MAIPs for more than 25 years. The Chancellor role at UniSIRAJ is therefore unusually integrated with the state religious establishment of Perlis, in contrast to most Malaysian private universities where the Chancellor is a former federal minister, retired judge, or industry figure.

UniSIRAJ currently offers 27 programmes spanning Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree (in both research and coursework modes), and Doctoral level qualifications. The portfolio is organised across four faculties: the Faculty of Islamic Studies (Pengajian Islam), the Faculty of Islamic Transaction and Finance (Muamalat dan Kewangan Islam), the Faculty of Business and Management Science, and the Faculty of the Quran and Sunnah. The Centre for Graduate Studies (Pusat Pengajian Siswazah, CGS), established on 1 October 2020 while the institution still operated as KUIPs, administers the postgraduate research and coursework programmes including the doctoral pipeline.

UniSIRAJ Campus and Location in Perlis

Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin operates from premises in the state of Perlis, Malaysia’s smallest state by area, situated at the northwestern tip of Peninsular Malaysia and bordered by Thailand to the north and Kedah to the south. The principal administrative address is recorded at Lot 2-11 dan Lot 18-27, Rumah Kedai Dua Tingkat, Taman Seberang Jaya Fasa 3, 02000 Kuala Perlis. Additional facilities operate at Kompleks Desa Siswa, Padang Besar, the northern border town that connects Malaysia to Thailand by rail and road.

The royal town of Arau, the seat of the Perlis monarchy and the birthplace of the institution’s namesake Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, lies within short commuting distance of the campus footprint. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was born in Arau on 17 May 1943 and received his early education at the Arau Malay School before continuing in Penang and at Wellingborough School in England. Arau hosts the official residence of the Raja of Perlis (Istana Arau), the state legislative assembly, and several federal and state administrative offices. The proximity of UniSIRAJ to this royal and administrative centre reinforces the institution’s symbolic and operational integration with the Perlis state government.

The Perlis location places UniSIRAJ within the same northern higher education corridor as Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), the federal public technical university also based in Perlis, and within driving distance of AIMST University in Bedong, Kedah, and the Albukhary International University in Alor Setar. The corridor is connected by the North-South Expressway and the KTM electric train service, with Penang International Airport approximately two hours by road and Alor Setar Sultan Abdul Halim Airport approximately 45 minutes by road. For Malaysian Muslim students from northern states (Perlis, Kedah, northern Perak, and northern Penang), UniSIRAJ removes the need to relocate to the Klang Valley or to Negeri Sembilan for an Islamic university education.

The campus footprint at UniSIRAJ is modest by the standards of metropolitan private universities, reflecting both the size of the Perlis state and the institution’s recent transition from college university to full university status. The Our Campus pages on the official institutional website at kuips.edu.my describe the academic blocks, the student services facilities, the student residences (Desa Siswa), and the central mosque that anchors the institutional Islamic identity. As UniSIRAJ scales programme delivery following the November 2024 upgrade, additional facility expansion is publicly anticipated under the MAIPs waqf development pipeline.

Programmes at UniSIRAJ

Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin organises its 27 programmes across four academic faculties, with the disciplinary centre of gravity firmly in Islamic studies, Islamic finance, and Quranic and Sunnah-based scholarship. Programme levels span Foundation, Diploma, Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate, providing a continuous progression pathway for students entering with SPM up through doctoral research.

The Faculty of Islamic Studies (Fakulti Pengajian Islam) is the institution’s foundational faculty and traces back to the original KUIPs charter of 2013. Programmes include the Diploma in Islamic Studies and the Bachelor in Islamic Studies (Sarjana Muda Pengajian Islam), with research streams at postgraduate level. The faculty’s curriculum covers fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence), aqidah (Islamic creed), tafsir (Quranic exegesis), and the broader Islamic intellectual tradition.

The Faculty of Islamic Transaction and Finance (Fakulti Muamalat dan Kewangan Islam) anchors UniSIRAJ’s positioning within Malaysia’s Islamic finance sector. Programmes include the Diploma in Islamic Banking, the Bachelor in Islamic Banking and Finance (Sarjana Muda Perbankan dan Kewangan Islam), the Diploma in Islamic Property Management, and the Bachelor of Transaction Management (Property Management) (Sarjana Muda Pengurusan Transaksi dengan Pengurusan Hartanah). The Centre for Graduate Studies operates a research stream in Fiqh Muamalat and Islamic Finance, which is one of the institution’s most distinctive postgraduate research domains.

The Faculty of Business and Management Science delivers the conventional business and management programmes that complement the Islamic finance faculty, providing graduates with a dual grounding in shariah-compliant practice and standard management discipline. The faculty supports the institution’s positioning as a producer of graduates suited for the Malaysian Islamic banking, takaful (Islamic insurance), and shariah-compliant property sectors.

The Faculty of the Quran and Sunnah (Fakulti al-Quran dan al-Sunnah) is the most distinctively Islamic of the four faculties and delivers programmes oriented toward Quranic memorisation, recitation (qiraat), tafsir, hadith sciences, and the methodology of Sunnah-based scholarship. The faculty positions UniSIRAJ alongside specialist Quranic institutions such as the Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic University College (KIAS) in Kelantan and the Darul Quran Institute under the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).

At postgraduate level, the Centre for Graduate Studies (Pusat Pengajian Siswazah), established 1 October 2020, administers Master’s degrees in both research and coursework modes and Doctorate (PhD) programmes by research. Postgraduate research fields include Fiqh Muamalat and Islamic Finance, alongside discipline-specific research within Islamic studies and Quranic and Sunnah-based scholarship. Postgraduate intake runs on rolling schedules with supervisor matching.

Fees at UniSIRAJ

UniSIRAJ does not publish a comprehensive consolidated fee schedule on the institutional website at the time of writing, and prospective students should request current fee tables directly from the admissions office through the eApplication portal at syskuips.my or by contacting the institution at the published telephone and email channels. The waqf-funded operating model of UniSIRAJ is structured to keep fees materially below those of commercially owned private universities, particularly for Malaysian Muslim students from Perlis and other northern states.

Fee setting at UniSIRAJ reflects three structural realities. First, the institution operates under MAIPs as a state religious authority body, which subjects its fee policy to public-interest oversight rather than profit-maximisation logic. Second, the waqf endowment model is constituted to apply income to operating support and student affordability rather than to shareholder distribution. Third, the programme portfolio is concentrated in Islamic studies, Islamic finance, and business-management disciplines that do not carry the high resource intensity of programmes such as MBBS, BDS, or engineering, which means the institution’s cost base is correspondingly lower than that of medical or engineering universities.

Prospective students should expect Foundation and Diploma fees in the range typical for state-affiliated Malaysian Islamic colleges (lower than commercial private university fees), Bachelor’s degree fees similarly below commercial private university benchmarks, and postgraduate fees set on the standard Malaysian range for research and coursework Master’s and Doctoral programmes. Federal student loan funding through PTPTN, state scholarships from the Perlis state government and MAIPs, and waqf scholarship pools administered by the institution may apply to eligible students. International student fees run on a separate schedule.

For the most current fee schedule, prospective students should:

• Submit an enquiry through the eApplication portal at syskuips.my/application.php
• Contact the UniSIRAJ admissions office through the institutional website kuips.edu.my
• Verify scholarship and waqf bursary availability with MAIPs at maips.gov.my
• Cross-check the programme MQA accreditation status at mqa.gov.my (institutional reference IDAkrIPTS=769)

The waqf-funded affordability positioning is one of UniSIRAJ’s principal differentiators and forms part of the institutional case made by MAIPs and the Perlis state government when the upgrade from KUIPs to full university status was approved in November 2024. The institution’s fee posture should be evaluated alongside its accreditation status, faculty depth, and graduate placement record rather than in isolation.

Accreditation and Recognition of UniSIRAJ

Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin is registered with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) under institutional reference IDAkrIPTS=769 and is listed in the Malaysian Qualifications Register (MQR) under both its current name and its former designation as Kolej Universiti Islam Perlis. The MQR listing covers programme-level accreditation status, which is the operative regulatory layer for graduate eligibility for further study, professional registration, and federal student loan funding through PTPTN.

The Department of Higher Education (Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi, JPT) approved the upgrade from college university to full university status by letter dated 15 November 2024, the foundational regulatory milestone in the institution’s transition. This approval was the prerequisite for the institution to adopt the full university designation, the four-faculty structure, and the expanded programme portfolio at Foundation through Doctorate levels. The proclamation of the Raja Muda of Perlis as Chancellor on 15 April 2025 followed as the ceremonial culmination of the regulatory upgrade.

For Malaysian students, the practical implications of UniSIRAJ’s accreditation status are:

• Programmes carry MQA accreditation at the programme level, which prospective students should verify on mqa.gov.my for their specific intended programme
• Bachelor’s degree graduates are eligible for further study at Malaysian and international universities subject to entry requirements
• PTPTN federal student loans are typically available for accredited programmes, subject to eligibility
• The institution’s status under MAIPs and the Perlis state government provides additional regulatory and reputational anchoring within the Malaysian Islamic education ecosystem

For international students, the recognition of UniSIRAJ qualifications in their home countries depends on bilateral recognition arrangements between the home country’s qualification authority and the MQA. Indonesian, Thai, Brunei, and Middle Eastern students considering UniSIRAJ should verify recognition through their home country’s higher education accreditation body before enrolment.

The institution’s positioning within the Malaysian Islamic university ecosystem is reinforced by its inclusion in the standard university ranking and directory platforms, including unirank, MQR, and the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) directory at discover.educationmalaysia.gov.my, the federal-level catalogue used by international students applying to study in Malaysia.

Admissions to UniSIRAJ

Admissions to Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin are administered through the eApplication portal at syskuips.my/application.php. Programme intake calendars and entry requirements are published by faculty on the institutional website at kuips.edu.my, with the Centre for Graduate Studies operating a separate postgraduate intake calendar.

Foundation and Diploma entry typically requires SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) with relevant subject passes for the chosen pathway. Foundation in Islamic Studies and Diploma in Islamic Studies entry requires passes in core SPM subjects including Bahasa Melayu, Sejarah, and a minimum credit in Pendidikan Islam or Pengajian Islam. Diploma in Islamic Banking and Diploma in Islamic Property Management entry follows a similar SPM baseline with additional emphasis on Mathematics.

Bachelor’s degree entry requires STPM (Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia), Matriculation, A-Level, the UniSIRAJ Foundation in Islamic Studies completion at the required CGPA, an accredited Diploma with the required CGPA for credit transfer, or other recognised pre-university qualifications. Bachelor in Islamic Banking and Finance and Bachelor in Transaction Management programmes typically require additional Mathematics or quantitative subject grades at the pre-university level.

Master’s degree entry requires a relevant Bachelor’s degree at the required CGPA, with research-mode applicants additionally required to identify a supervisor with research alignment and submit a research proposal. The Centre for Graduate Studies publishes specific entry requirements per programme on the kuips.edu.my postgraduate pages.

Doctorate entry requires a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline, a research proposal, and supervisor matching. The doctoral pipeline is concentrated in Islamic studies, Fiqh Muamalat and Islamic Finance, and Quranic and Sunnah scholarship.

International applicants should additionally factor in the Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) student visa pass processing window, which runs separately from the institutional admission decision. Applicants from non-Muslim countries should verify the language of instruction and the additional Arabic or Quranic competency requirements at programme level, as several UniSIRAJ programmes are partially or wholly delivered in Arabic alongside Bahasa Melayu and English.

Application contact channels are published on kuips.edu.my and through the institutional Facebook page at facebook.com/UniSIRAJ. The university also maintains a presence in the Malaysia Central education directory and the EMGS portal for international student outreach.

Royal Patronage and the Perlis Heritage of UniSIRAJ

The naming of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin honours the 12th Raja of Perlis and 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was born in Arau, Perlis on 17 May 1943, the second of ten children and the eldest son of Tuanku Syed Putra of Perlis (the world’s longest-reigning monarch at the time of his death in 2000) and Raja Perempuan Budriah. The royal lineage traces to Prophet Muhammad through the paternal line and to the Pattani sultanate through the maternal line, a genealogy that anchors the symbolic gravity of the institution’s name.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin received his early education at the Arau Malay School before continuing in Penang from 1950, and was appointed Raja Muda of Perlis in 1960 while still studying at Penang Free School. He completed his secondary education at Wellingborough School in England in 1963, served briefly in the Malaysian Armed Forces from 1965 to 1969 (rising to second lieutenant in the Malaysian Reconnaissance Corps), and was installed as the 12th Raja of Perlis on 17 April 2000 following the death of his father. He served as the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong from 13 December 2001 to 12 December 2006 under the rotational federal monarchy system established by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

The institutional Chancellor is the eldest son of Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, His Royal Highness Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, the current Raja Muda of Perlis (born 30 December 1967). The Raja Muda was proclaimed Chancellor of UniSIRAJ for a five-year term running 15 April 2025 to 14 April 2030 and has additionally served as Patron of MAIPs for more than 25 years, providing continuity between the state religious establishment and the academic governance of UniSIRAJ.

The choice to base the university in Perlis and to anchor it to the royal lineage carries particular institutional weight. Perlis is Malaysia’s smallest state by area and population, and it has historically been underserved by tertiary education infrastructure relative to the larger northern states of Kedah and Penang. The presence of UniSIRAJ alongside the federal Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) gives Perlis a tertiary education footprint comparable to its constitutional and royal weight within the Federation. The institution is also part of the broader pattern of Malaysian Islamic universities named after rulers, alongside Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (UniSHAMS) named after the late Sultan of Perak, the Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic University College (KIAS) named after the late Sultan of Kelantan, and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) named after the late Sultan of Terengganu.

The waqf-based funding model is itself a religiously significant institutional feature. Waqf is an Islamic charitable endowment in which property or capital is dedicated permanently to a specified beneficial purpose, with the principal preserved in perpetuity. Education-oriented waqf is a long-established Islamic tradition tracing to the medieval madrasah systems of Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, Granada, and Istanbul, and the founding of UniSIRAJ on a waqf model situates the institution within that classical tradition. MAIPs administers the waqf endowment under the broader framework of Perlis state Islamic governance.

How UniSIRAJ Compares to Other Islamic Universities

Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin occupies a specific position within Malaysia’s Islamic higher education ecosystem, distinguished from peer institutions by ownership structure, scale, and disciplinary focus. The most informative comparison set comprises the Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic University College (KIAS) in Kelantan, Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (UniSHAMS) in Kedah, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Negeri Sembilan, and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Selangor and Pahang.

UniSIRAJ versus KIAS (Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic University College): both are state-affiliated Islamic university colleges anchored to royal patronage, both operate under state religious authority structures, and both upgraded from college status to university or university college status in the 2024–2025 period. KIAS sits in Nilam Puri, Kelantan, and is administered through the Kelantan state Islamic establishment. The two institutions occupy substantially overlapping institutional categories but serve different state catchments.

UniSIRAJ versus UniSHAMS (Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah): UniSHAMS is based in Kuala Ketil, Kedah, and operates under a similar state-affiliated Islamic university model. The two institutions are geographically adjacent (Perlis and Kedah are neighbouring northern states) and serve the same broad northern Malaysian Muslim student catchment. UniSHAMS is the larger of the two by enrolment and has operated under university status since 2016.

UniSIRAJ versus USIM (Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia): USIM is a federal public Islamic university in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, with substantially larger faculty, programme portfolio, and student enrolment, and full Ministry of Higher Education funding. USIM operates seven faculties spanning Islamic studies, Quranic and Sunnah studies, Islamic economics and muamalat, dentistry, medicine and health sciences, science and technology, and major language. USIM is therefore a federal-scale comprehensive Islamic university while UniSIRAJ is a state-scale specialist Islamic university.

UniSIRAJ versus IIUM (International Islamic University Malaysia): IIUM is the federal flagship Islamic university in Gombak, Selangor (with branch campuses in Kuantan, Pahang and elsewhere), and operates with combined Ministry of Higher Education and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation patronage. IIUM offers more than 200 programmes across kuliyyahs (faculties) including law, economics and management, engineering, medicine, dentistry, allied health, and education, and has historically been positioned as a global Islamic university. UniSIRAJ is materially smaller, more focused, and operates without the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation backing.

The practical implication of this comparison set for prospective students is that UniSIRAJ is most appropriate for Perlis-based and northern Malaysian Muslim students seeking an affordable, state-affiliated Islamic university education in Islamic studies, Islamic finance, business and management, and Quranic and Sunnah-based scholarship. Students seeking a federal-scale comprehensive Islamic university with broader programme portfolios should consider USIM or IIUM. Students seeking the regional state-affiliated alternatives should consider UniSHAMS in Kedah or KIAS in Kelantan.

For the broader picture of private universities and universities in Perlis, UniSIRAJ adds to a still-thin Perlis tertiary education map, alongside the federal Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), and contributes to the state’s positioning as a centre for Islamic finance scholarship and northern Malaysian higher education access.

Contact UniSIRAJ

The official institutional website is kuips.edu.my, retained from the KUIPs era and continuing to serve as the canonical UniSIRAJ web presence. The eApplication portal for prospective students is hosted at syskuips.my/application.php. The institutional Facebook presence is at facebook.com/UniSIRAJ.

The principal administrative address is Lot 2-11 dan Lot 18-27, Rumah Kedai Dua Tingkat, Taman Seberang Jaya Fasa 3, 02000 Kuala Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia. Additional facilities operate at Kompleks Desa Siswa, Padang Besar, Perlis.

Prospective students should:

• Apply through syskuips.my/application.php for Foundation, Diploma, and Bachelor’s degree programmes
• Contact the Centre for Graduate Studies through kuips.edu.my for Master’s and Doctoral programme enquiries
• Verify programme-level MQA accreditation status at mqa.gov.my (institutional reference IDAkrIPTS=769)
• Cross-check waqf scholarship and MAIPs bursary availability through maips.gov.my

In summary: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin (UniSIRAJ) is a private Islamic university in Perlis operating under the Council of Religion and Malay Custom Perlis (MAIPs) on a waqf-endowment funding model, formally upgraded from Kolej Universiti Islam Perlis (KUIPs) by Department of Higher Education approval dated 15 November 2024. The institution offers 27 programmes across four faculties spanning Islamic studies, Islamic transaction and finance, business and management science, and Quranic and Sunnah scholarship, from Foundation through Doctorate level. The Chancellor is the Raja Muda of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, serving a five-year term to 14 April 2030. UniSIRAJ is named after the 12th Raja of Perlis and 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail (born 17 May 1943 in Arau, Perlis).