Quraish Shihab

Muhammad Quraish Shihab (محمّد قريش شهاب; ; 16 February 1944) is an Indonesian Arab-Bugis Muslim scholar in the sciences of the Qur'an, an author, an Academic Scholar, and former Minister of Religious Affairs in the Fourth Development Cabinet (1998). He is the older brother of the former Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Alwi Shihab. Quraish was born in Lotassalo, Rappang, on 16 February 1944. His father was Abdurrahman Shihab, an Islamic scholar and professor at State Institute of Islamic Sciences and his mother was Asma Aburisyi. Quraish is the fourth son of twelve siblings. His three older siblings, Nur, Ali (d) 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. Quraish Shihab, called Bang Odes by his younger siblings, is an Arab Indonesian of Ba 'Alawi sada family, where his family lineage traces back to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. In addition to Arab, he is also of Bugis descent. Quraish married Fatmawaty Assegaf on 2 February 1975 in Surakarta. From the marriage, they have four daughters (Najelaa, Najwa, Nasywa, Nahla) and one son, Ahmad. After completing his early education in Ujung Pandang, Quraish continued his secondary education in Malang, which he did while at the Dar al-Hadith Al-Faqihiyyah boarding school under guidance of Habib Abdul Qadir Bilfaqih. In 1958 he went to Cairo, Egypt, and Admitted to 2nd grade in Al-Thanawiya (middle school level) at Al-Azhar. In 1967, he earned an LC (Bachelor's degree) from the Department of Tafsir and Hadith, the faculty of Islamic Theology in Al-Azhar University. He continued his education at the same faculty in 1969 and earned master's degree in Tafseer of the Qur'an with the thesis entitled Al-I'jaz Tashri'i li Al-Qur-an Al-Karim. Upon returning to Makassar, Quraish served as the Vice Rector for Academic and Student Affairs at IAIN Alauddin, Ujung Pandang.