Quraish Shihab

Muhammad Quraish Shihab
Dr. Quraish Shihab giving lecture on TV
Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia
In office March 14, 1998 – May 21, 1998
President	Suharto
Preceded by	Tarmizi Taher
Succeeded by	Malik Fajar
Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah University
In office 1992–1998
Preceded by	Ahmad Syadali
Succeeded by	Ahmad Sukardja
Board member of MUI
Incumbent
Assumed office 1984
Personal details
Born	(1944-02-16) 16 February 1944 Rappang, South Sulawesi
Citizenship	Indonesia
Spouse	Fatimawati Assegaf
Children	Najla, Najwa, Nashwa, Nahla, Ahmad
Website	http://www.quraishshihab.com

Muhammad Quraish Shihab (Arabic: محمّد قريش شهاب; Muhammad Quraish Šihāb); February 16, 1944) is an Indonesian Muslim scholar in the sciences of the Qur'an, an author, a cleric, and former Minister of Religion Affairs in the Cabinet of Development VII (1998). He was the older brother of the former Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Alwi Shihab.

Biography

Quraish was born in Rappang, on February 16, 1944. His father was Abdurrahman Shihab, an Islamic scholar and professor at State Institute of Islamic Sciences and hiss mother was Asma Aburisyi. Quraish was the fourth son of twelve siblings. His three older siblings, Nur, Ali and Umar, and two younger siblings, Wardah and Alwi Shihab, were also born in Rappang. Seven other siblings namely Nina, Sida, Nizar, Abdul Muthalib, Salwa and twin sister Ulfa and Latifah, were born in the village of Buton.

Education

After completing his early education in Ujung Pandang, Quraish continued his secondary education in Malang, which he did while at the Darul-Hadeeth Al-Faqihiyyah boarding school.

In 1958 he went to Cairo, Egypt, and Admitted to 2nd grade in Tsanawiyah at Al-Azhar. In 1967, he earned an LC (Bachelor degree) from the Department of Tafsir and Hadith, the faculty of Islamic Theology in Al Azhar University. He then continued his education at the same faculty in 1969 and received Master degree in Tafseer of the Qur'an with the thesis entitled Al-I'jaz Tasyri'i li Al-Quran Al-Karim.

Upon returning to Makassar, Quraish served as the Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs at IAIN Alauddin, Ujung Pandang. In addition, he was also entrusted with other positions, both for academic positions such as the Coordinator of Private Higher Education Region VII in Eastern Indonesia, and non-academic positions such as the Assistant Police Chief of Eastern Indonesia in the field of mental development. While in Makassar, he also had time to do some researches. Some of his papers were "Implementation Harmony Religious Life in Eastern Indonesia" (1975) and "Problems Endowments South Sulawesi" (1978).

In 1980, Quraish Shihab returned to Cairo and continued his education at his old almamater. In 1982 He earned his doctorate in the sciences of the Qur'an with a dissertation entitled Al-Durar Nazhm li al-Biqa'iy, tahqiq wa Dirasah, where he graduated with Summa Cum Laude with first class honors (mumtaz ma`a martabat al-syaraf al-’ula).

Career

in 1984 Quraish was assigned as a lecturer in the Ushuluddin Faculty and Postgraduate Faculty at IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. He was also entrusted to positions at various departments, among others: the co-chairman of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) (since 1984); member of Lajnah Pentashbih Qur'an at the Department of Religious Affairs (since 1989) and member of the Advisory Board of National Education (since 1989).

Quraish Shihab is also heavily involved in several professional organizations, such as the member of the Shari'ah Science Society; member of the Consortium of the Religions at the Ministry of Education and Culture; and as the Assistant Chief of the General Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI).

Publications

He also writes more than 30 books. Some of his books are:

• Tafsir Al-Manar: privileges and disadvantages (Ujung Pandang: IAIN Alauddin, 1984)
• Filsafat Hukum Islam (The Philosophy of Islamic Laws) (Jakarta: Department of Religion, 1987);
• Mahkota Tuntunan Ilahi (The Crown of Divine Guidance, a book on Tafseer of Surat Al-Fatihah) (Jakarta: Untagma, 1988)
• Membumikan al-Qur'an (Earthing Quran) (Bandung: Mizan, 1992). This book is one of the Best Seller that has sold for more than 75 thousand copies.
• Tafsir Al-Mishba, a complete interpretation of the Qur'an, 30 juz (Jakarta: Lantern Heart)

In addition to writing, he also actively gives lectures in Islam-related programs at some television stations. Some popular programs, among other Kultum in RCTI, Tafsir Al Mishbah in MetroTV, and Hikmah Fajar in RCTI.

Personal Life

Quraish married to Fatmawati Assegaf on February 2, 1975 in Surakarta. From the marriage, they have four daughters (Najelaa, Najwa, Nasywa, Nahla) and one son (Ahmad).