Mohammed Waheed-Uz-Zaman Rana, Ph.D: 1934-2016

Mohammed Waheed-Uz-Zaman Rana, Ph.D., professor emeritus of anatomy, and leader in the Islamic and interfaith community in St. Louis, died Sunday, Oct. 16. He was 82 years old.

John Martin III, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Center for Anatomical Science and Education, praised Rana for the way he lived his life each day, his devotion to SLU and tireless efforts to bring people of all faiths together in the St. Louis community.

“Dr. Rana was a very honest man who never said anything negative about others and was dedicated to living his life as a servant to God in which he went about doing good,” Martin said. “He was committed to excellence not only in his career as a professor of anatomy, but also in his tireless service to the Muslim community and working with others from various faiths to promote meaningful peace and understanding in the St. Louis region.”

Rana was known throughout the St. Louis area as a pillar in the Islamic community and a positive force in interfaith relations. He served as an advisory board member of the Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis, an organization that honored him in 2015 for “his decades of exemplary leadership in the interfaith community.” 

As the Partnership award suggests, Rana was known throughout the St. Louis region for his community service. He held many offices and participated in a variety of organizations. Among those were the Islamic Center of St. Louis, Islamic Society of North America, and the St. Louis Correctional Institute.

Rana was a member of the board of the National Conference of Community and Justice for the St. Louis region, a charter board member of the Voices of Survival, both the chairman and member of the Interfaith Partnership, and a charter board member and chaplain of All God’s People.

“In every good academic institute there are faculty whose vision extends beyond their own subject matter even beyond their discipline. Dr. Rana was such a teacher,” said Ruthba Zaman, a graduate student in the School of Medicine. “This awareness prompted him to influence change. Dr. Rana came to St. Louis when the Muslim community was very small and the need for strong leadership was never more crucial. He along with some of his friends who shared similar vision saw the need to develop the Muslim community here in St. Louis. He helped to fill this vacuum.”

For his service and commitment to the community, Rana received a number of community service awards. In 2015, he was honored by the Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis. As noted on the CASE website, the award was presented to Rana at the organization’s 30th Anniversary Celebration in recognition of “his decades of exemplary leadership in the interfaith community. His relationships played a key role in securing greater St. Louis' acceptance of the building of the Daar-UL-Islam Masjid in Ballwin, Missouri. Dr. Rana is often called upon as a speaker and representative of Islam. ... His untiring commitment and friendship have touched the hearts of many in St. Louis.”

Rana was also honored by Temple Israel in 2007 with the Malachi Award for Interfaith Relations and Understanding. In an article about the Malachi Award, The Jewish Light described Rana this way: “His cheerful demeanor and wise counsel have served and continue to serve his efforts in establishing ties between the greater interfaith community and Islamic congregations in St. Louis. Dr. Rana has been a mentor for an increasing number of Muslims who actively serve and lead on the Board of the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis." 

He also received accolades from the Islamic community, which recognized him with the Muslim Community Organization Appreciation, the Islamic Sunday School Recognition and Award for Service to Muslim Community, just to name a few. Rana also received the Brotherhood Sisterhood Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice; the Norman Stack Award from the Jewish Community Relations Counsel and the Micah Award from American Jewish Committee. 

Rana was born May 28, 1934, in Lahore, which was then a part of West Pakistan and is today Pakistan. In 1962, he came to the United States and attended Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. There he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and graduated with honors.

From Michigan, Rana went on to attend Wayne State University, where he earned a master’s degree in anatomy in 1966, and stayed to continue his studies. The year 1968 proved to be a major turning point in his life, as he graduated from Wayne State with his doctorate in the spring of that year and then began what was to become a 40-plus year career at Saint Louis University.

Initially hired as an instructor in the Department of Anatomy at SLU’s School of Medicine, Rana rose through the ranks and became a professor in 1996. From 1976 to 1997, Rana’s professional teaching responsibilities included course directorship of the medical human embryology course.  Additionally, he taught in human gross anatomy, human histology and a variety of anatomy electives, and he mentored numerous graduate students.

His research interests were wide-ranging and included the effects of hemorrhage on immuno-responsive cell and microcirculation, early hepatic dysfunction after hypovolemic shock, and apoptosis in regeneration of tissue, among many others. Over the course of his career, he published two textbooks covering human embryology: Key Facts in Embryology and Human Embryology Made Easy.

Along with his books, Rana had a number of scientific publications, including 45 manuscripts and 51 abstracts. He also authored a number of non-scientific publications largely focusing on Islamic topics, but others as well, including “The Story of Ibrahim, Nida-ul-Islam 1990,” “On Death and Dying,” “Give the Gift that Lasts,” “Ten Commandments in Quran,” “Conflict Resolution,” and many others. 

Rana was a member of a number of professional societies including the American Association of Anatomists and the Islamic Medical Association of America.

In 2008, Rana retired, but that did little to slow him down – he remained at the University as a professor emeritus until 2014. Over his 40-plus-year career at SLU, he mentored hundreds of students, including Martin.

“I have known Dr. Rana for 23 years, first as a graduate student, then as a staff member in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, later as a faculty member, and most recently as the director of the Center for Anatomical Science and Education,” Martin said. “Dr. Rana was a very effective teacher specifically to small groups and on a one-to-one basis.”

Martin spoke highly of Rana’s impact on the students at SLU.

“As a Muslim, Dr. Rana served as a magnet for students, staff and faculty of the same faith,” Martin said. “The diversity of the students who sought Dr. Rana expanded once the word was out that he was someone who genuinely was interested in the best interests of students.” 

Zaman echoed this sentiment.

“He was one of the founders of the Pine Mosque, which has helped many Muslim teachers, and students of SLU and Wash U. to have a place to go and practice their faith," Zaman said. "He has touched the lives of many and has helped to improve their lives. He was a huge contributor to community issues and will be dearly missed.”

“His caring attitude extended into the community, where he was recognized not only as a Muslim leader but as someone who worked toward developing fellowship by building interfaith bridges with Christian-Judaeo faiths.  Dr. Rana was a mild man with strong beliefs in community,” Martin said. “His honesty, integrity and willingness to listen were his key attributes in developing, strengthening and making permanent relationships with colleagues within SLU and in the community.”

Rana is preceded in death by his wife Janice, who died in 2006. He is survived by his children and their spouses: Jamil (Fazila) Rana, M.D., Aneesa Rana (Nathan) Vogt, Omar Z. (Jamie) Rana, and Nadia Jehan (John) Gazzoli, and seven grandchildren.

A funeral was held Monday, Oct. 17 at Daar-Ul-Islam mosque in Ballwin, and burial was in Our Redeemer Cemetery in Affton.

Rana’s family requests that memorials be sent to Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis, 483 E. Lockwood Ave., Suite 107; St. Louis, Missouri 63119.