Obituary Farewell to Mushtaqur Rahman: An AMSS Pioneer Professor Mushtaqur Rahman, a renowned Muslim geographer, who was born on July 1,1933 in Agra (India), died of cardiac arrest at Des Moines, Iowa (USA), on November 5, 1999. He had heart problems for several years that had slowed down his academic and social service activities but never deterred him from performing them. In 1947, he migrated to Pakistan, a country he loved dearly and lived to serve throughout his life. Still, his contributions went beyond it in a num- ber of ways. Having done his B.A. (1953) and M.A. (1955) from the University of Karachi, he taught at Islamiah College, Karachi, and Sindh University, Hyderabad for a few years. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Cultural Geography, from Louisiana State University in 1960, and did postdoctoral research at the University of Geisen, Germany in 1966-67. He served in the Department of Geography, University of Karachi, Pakistan from 1963 to 1969. He was appointed Professor of Geography in the Department of Anthropology, Iowa State University (ISU), Ames, Iowa. He served ISU till his retirement in May 1998. Dr.. Rahman’s contribution to the field of Cultural Geography of South Asia has been recognized worldwide. In Professor Rahman was combined an activist and quiet researcher. He was a founding member of the Old Students’ Association of Karachi University (OSAKU), which he served in various capacities. Besides carrying out advisory duties for the Muslim Students Association at ISU, he organized for its students and faculty many study tours of Pakistan and brought a number of Pakistani scholars to Iowa State. His main scholarly contributions are through his very long, sincere, ded- icated service to the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and through his many worthy publications in the field of political and cultural geography. Not only did he serve A M S S as its vice president with one of its founders, Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, but he was also elected its 158 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 164 President for two separate tenures. Dr. Rahman was instrumental in organ- izing several international conventions of AMSS, especially those held in collaboration with Hamdard University, Madinatul Hikmat, Karachi (founded by Hakeem Mohammad Saeed) in 1992 and 1997. Only a few days before his passing, the AMSS presented a plaque in recognition of his service to this professional organization. Dr. Rahman made substantive contributions to his field of geography. He authored, or co-authored with his wife, Begum Guljan Rahman, as well as a few others, many publications including books and monographs. They include: Geography of the Muslim World (Chicago, IL: Iqra International Education Foundation, 1998); Divided Kashmir: Old Problems, New Opportunities for India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri People, (Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996); Muslim World (GeoJournal) vol. 37, no. 1 (September 1995); Agriculture in Pakistan (Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1988); Muslim World: Geography and Development (University Press of America, 1987); Rural Development in Pakistan: Policies and Problems (Hong Kong: Asian Research Service, 1983); Agrarian Egalitarianism: Land Tenure and Land Reforms in South Asia (Dubuque: Kendallmunt Publishing Company, 1981) A Geography of Sindh Province (Pakistan: Karachi Geographers Association, 1975); and Deh Dali Nandi, West Pakistan: A Study of Cultural Factors in Land Use (Karachi: Pakistan Institute of Geography Monograph, 1965). Besides continuing to serve as evaluator of research proposals with many publishers and the National Science Foundation, he had two signed con- tracts that will be completed by Mrs. Guljan Rahman. One is with John Wiley and Sons for Geography of South Asia, and the other is with Iqra International for the French and Arabic translations of Geography of the Muslim World, originally published in English. Professor Emeritus Mushtaqur Rahman’s humility and unassuming dis- position endeared him to all he came in contact with. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and students as well as by his friends and rela- tives. May Allah bless his soul with a place in Paradise! Znna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji ‘un (Surely we belong to Allah, and to Him we return). Dilnawaz A. Siddiqui Ex-President A M S S Professor of Communications Clarion University, PA