Muhammad Quraish Shihab

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 was 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. 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 alma mater. In 1982, he earned his doctorate in the sciences of the Qur'an with the dissertation studying the method of al-Biqa'i (al-Biqa'i is a scholar of exegesis from Damascus in the 15th century) entitled The Research and Study of The Pearls System of al-Biqa'i ( Arabic: نظم الدرر للبقاعي – تحقيق ودراسة, romanized: Naẓami Al-Durar li al-Biqā'iy - tahqīq wa Dirāsah), where he graduated summa cum laude with first class honors (Arabic: ممتاز مع مرتبة الشرف العول, romanized: Mumtāz ma'a Martabat al-Sharaf al-'Ula).

In 1984, Quraish was assigned as a lecturer in the Ushuluddin faculty and postgraduate faculty at IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta. He was entrusted to positions at various departments: among others; the co-chairman of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) (since 1984); member of Lajnah Pentashih 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; he is a member of the Shari'ah Science Society; member of the Consortium of the Religions at the Ministry of Education and Culture, and is the Assistant Chief of the General Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI).

Quraish was appointed Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs in 1998 for about two months, and later appointed The Indonesian Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Egypt and accredited to Djibouti in Cairo from 1999 to 2002.

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.

Quraish Shihab issues some fatwas which are considered controversial or too liberal by many Muslims in Indonesia. In 1993, and again on December 6 of 2003, he issued a fatwa allowing Muslims to say Merry Christmas to the Christians and published on the Republika daily-newspaper.

Around the year 2006, he wrote a book titled "Jilbab Pakaian Wanita Muslimah" expressing his long held but controversial view that it is not obligatory for women to wear the hijab (veil), which clashed with opinions of many Islamic scholars. In the book he concludes that the verses in the Quran related to women's clothing have various interpretations, and said the legal provisions on the tolerable limit of female's aurah is zhanniy or a conjecture.

In the program Tafsir Al-Misbah on Metro TV broadcast on 12 July 2014, Quraish Shihab was accused of saying that Muhammad does not receive a guarantee from God to enter paradise. Quraish later clarified by saying Quraish Shihab explained that based on the hadith "no one enters heaven because of his deeds", he stated that the Companions asked, "Not even you?". The Apostle answered, "Neither do I, except for the grace of Allah upon me." According to him, good deeds are not the reason for going to heaven but that is God's prerogative.