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