Journal History

Until 2007/2008 session, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) published three journals. However, around 2008–2009, the management of IKIM made the decision to consolidate all these journals into a single publication, namely IKIM Journal of Islam and the International Affairs, with the responsibility of Managing Editor assigned to Mr. Suzalie, a Fellow at the Centre for Shariah, Law, and Politics, IKIM, with an annual publication frequency. In the latter half of 2009, upon a proposal put forth by the Director-General of IKIM, Datuk Nik Mustapha Nik Hassan, a management meeting chaired for the last time by the Founding and First Chairman of IKIM, Tun Ahmad Sarji, decided that starting in 2010, the role of Managing Editor for the journal would be entrusted to Dr. Mohd Zaidi bin Ismail, a Senior Fellow cum Director of the Centre of Science and Technology, later rebranded as Centre for Science and Environmental Studies.

 

In 2010, one of the Academic Meetings chaired by the then Director-General of IKIM, Datuk Nik Mustapha approved the proposal to rebrand the journal as TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World, maintaining the same publication frequency. Since 2015, TAFHIM has also been published online, and since 2019, it has been published biannually, with issues released in June and December each year. The print publication of TAFHIM was discontinued in 2022; however, it continues to be available online through the portal http://tafhim.ikim.gov.my to this day. In terms of the number of articles published in each issue, it initially featured 5 articles over an extended period, increasing to 6 articles in 2023. Beginning with Volume 17, Issue 1 (June 2024), the number of articles in TAFHIM further increased to 7 articles per issue.