King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has given Harvard Law School $5 million to support the study of Islamic law, Harvard and Saudi officials announced recently.

The money will be used to establish the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques endowed professorship of Islamic law and will also help fund research on Islamic legal systems.

"With one-fifth of the earth's population living in the Islamic World, it is imperative that study of the highest quality be devoted to Islamic law. The foresight and generosity of King Fahd ensure that the world will always have at Harvard Law School a center for serious, objective academic study of this vital field," Law School Dean Robert C. Clark said in a statement.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said in a statement that the gift is "part of the King's effort to serve Islam worldwide." The donation was announced June 10.

Bandar said that increasing understanding between the markedly different legal systems of Islam and the West is "a great cross-cultural challenge."

The Saudi criminal justice system, which includes strict penalties such as beheading and hand-cutting, has come under attack by international human rights groups.

There has also been some recent concern in America about the influence of foreign funding on the nation's universities.

New federal laws require Harvard to report to the Secretary of Education all gifts of more than $250,000 from foreign countries, people or corporations.

Universities must also report any restrictions or conditions of the gift.

Harvard has reported to the Internal Revenue Service that in fiscal year 1990, it refused a contract to provide services to a Saudi hospital.

The contract would have required that Harvard Medical School cooperate with an international boycott of Israel