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International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) organized  an international conference entitled “Family Institution in the 21st century- Ideals and Realities” on 13 and 14 December 2010, with more than 20 speakers gave talks on various issues relating to challenges and problems both ideological and practical confronting family institution especially in Southeast Asian countries.

The objectives of the conference was to identify the major challenges and problems faced by family institution that have brought about their degradation and decline and to learn lessons from various experiences and features of family life in Southeast Asian communities which is facing with new challenges of traditional to modernity.

The two-day conference was a follow up of the international conference which was held in Istanbul, Turkey in November 2010 with the theme “Family as a Value: In Religion, Tradition and Modernity.”  About 200 participants took part in the conference including academicians and journalists at IAIS Conference Hall, in Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur. was represented by Aree Mamat.

Prominent speakers who gave talks at the conference among others were Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Osman Bakar, , IAIS and Prof Mohammad Hashim Kamali, /, IAIS who presented very interesting papers on the Traditional Family as a Religion and as a Social Institution, and Islamic Family Law Reforms: Problems and Prospects. Dr Zainab Alwani, from Northern Virginia Community College, USA, discussed on the Shar’iah on Family Values and Institutions, While Dr Karim Crow of IAIS focused on Family and Household in Early Islam, The Crisis of Modernity and the Family by Dr Sheeba Aslam Fehmi from India, More interestingly, when Dr Mohd Zain Musa from Cambodia and Dr Shukri Langputeh from Yala Islamic University, Southern talked on problems and challenges on The Family Institution Among Cambodian Muslims, and The Role of Family Institution in Maintaining Islamic Identity in .

The conference was officiated by YB Senator Dato’ Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, of , Family and Community Development Malaysia.

The conference was jointly organized by Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM), Islamic Education Foundation Malaysia, Yayasan Ubaidi and the Journalists and Writers Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey.

The International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia known as IAIS was established in 2007 as an independent non-profit research thin-thank. It was formally launched by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2008. The institute is dedicated to the rigorous pursuit of objective academic and policy research on Islam and contemporary challenges of concern to Malaysia, the global ummah and Islam’s engagement with other civilizations.

Its main areas of research include interfaith studies, alliance of civilizations, human rights, good governance and democratic institutions, Islamic finance, education, science, technology, environment and ethics. As a research body, IAIS plays a significant role in conducting public lecture, seminar and round table discussions on various issues. It also produces a quarterly journal, occasional papers and monographs series.

By Aree Mamat