Keperluan pada transformasi hukum Islam bagi menjawab persoalan hidup semasa dalam masyarakat Islam hari ini sangat dirasakan. Di bawah pengaruh dunia baru dengan segala kemajuannya, baik dari segi ekonomi, sosial mahupun sains dan teknologi, hampir semua perkara dalam kehidupan moden sekarang ini telah berubah. Ringkasnya, pemikiran hukum Islam semasa merupakan perkara teras dalam pengajian Syariah. Ia bukan sahaja diperlukan pada hari ini tetapi juga sentiasa subur dalam proses ijtihad sejak dari zaman Rasulullah SAW sampailah ke hari ini.
Prof. Emeritus Dato' Paduka Dr. Mahmood Zuhdi bin Haji Abd. Majid, is an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Malaya. He has also been appointed as Chairman of the National Preaching Council. He has several degrees related to Shariah from Malaysia and abroad, namely, Bachelor of Shariah from Nilam Puri, Master of Shariah from Al-Azhar University, Master of Philosophy from Kent University and Doctor of Philosophy from Universiti Malaya.
He also has a Diploma in Education from Ain Shams in Egypt. He became the Dean of the Faculty of Syariah at the University of Malaya from 1985 to 1990 and then served as the director at the Academy of Islamic Studies at the University of Malaya from 1995 to 2003. His field covers three branches, namely, the History of Islamic Law, Principles of Islamic Studies and Legal Administration Islamic Criminal Law.
Prof. Emeritus Dato' Paduka Dr. Mahmood Zuhdi bin Haji Abd. Majid is a talented writer, having published several sharia books over the years including ' Towards Realizing Islamic Law' in Malaysia (1998), Islamic Family Law: Its Concept and Implementation in Malaysia (1992), Criminal Law Islam: The Concept and Basis of its Implementation (1992), Introduction to Islamic Law in Malaysia (1997), Dynamism of Sharia Studies (1997), History of the Construction of Islamic Law (1998), Administration of Malaysian Islamic Criminal Law (1999), Waqf and Its Implementation in Malaysia (2000),Zakat Administration (2003), Zakat Management (2003) and Ulama Penggugat Zaman (2004). Among several articles written by Prof. Emeritus Dato' Paduka Dr. Mahmood Zuhdi includes Fiqh Malaysia: Concepts and Challenges (2000), The Role of Zakat in Ummah Development (2002) and Islamic Political Theory: Understanding Syariah Syariah (2003). Prof. Emeritus Dato' Paduka Dr. Mahmood Zuhdi is the recipient of the Dato' Paduka Jiwa Mahkota Kelantan Yang Amat Mulia (DJMK) gifted by His Majesty the Sultan of Kelantan.