The establishment of the World Fatwa Management and Research Institute (INFAD) was the brainchild of Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Mohd Yusof Hj. Mohd Noor, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The idea was first made public during a press conference on 6 August 2002. A special committee headed by Professor Dr. Hj. Abdul Samat Musa who at that time was the Dean of the Faculty of Syariah and Law was set up by theVice-Chancellor on 27 August 2002 to prepare a proposal for USIM’s approval.

The proposal for the establishment of the institute was accepted in the 11th Senate Meeting on 18 October 2002 and approved in the 6th Meeting of the USIM’s Board of Directors on 28 November 2002. INFAD was  officiated on 26 May 2003 by Brig. Gen. (Rtd) Dato’ Seri Abdul Hamid Hj. Zainal Abidin, the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in a ceremony held at the Palace of the Golden Horses, Kuala Lumpur.