It also constantly ranks among the best universities in the country for the general category by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

[4][5] The university was founded in 1980 with funding from inside Pakistan and foreign donations from Saudi Arabia.

Ismail al-Faruqi, a prominent scholar, played a significant role in its establishment.

His advisory role was instrumental in laying the foundation of the university, integrating Islamic values with contemporary academic disciplines.

[6] The university provides education and training in Islamic law for the professions of judicial officers, public prosecutors, teachers of madrassas, preachers of Friday sermons and imams.

[8] In February 2014, it awarded King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia an honorary doctorate in politics and international relations.

The mosque is one of the largest in the world and is able to accommodate tens of thousands of people in its prayer hall, women's gallery and courtyard.

Students enrolling in doctorate programs complete one year of compulsory coursework before commencing a thesis.

[23] The Faculty of Social Sciences offers degrees in Anthropology, Education, Politics and International Relations, Psychology, History and Pakistan Studies, Islamic Art and Architecture, Mass Communications and Sociology.

The Centre of Excellence for Modern Languages teaches English, Chinese and Urdu languages preparatory courses for students seeking to enroll in foreign and national universities (for example, HEC scholarships) or seeking employment.

It offers degrees in Islamic banking and finance, econometric and rural development.

[28] The International Islamic University (IIU) uses an absolute grading system with a fixed range.

Da’wah Academy has five types of libraries to fulfill the information needs of its research scholars, academicians, course participants, and the general public.

It is located in the basement of Faisal mosque and it has large volume of books on varieties of subjects.