Tuhia he tomokanga mo tenei pene - I whanau a Perween Rahman i te Hanuere 22, 1957 i Dhaka, i te wa o Pakistan ki te Rawhiti (i Bangladesh inaianei). I noho ia ki tetahi whanau Bihari i neke ki Karachi whai muri i te pakanga a-iwi i Pakistan ki te Rawhiti
i te tau 1971. I whiwhi ia i te tohu Paetahi o te Hangarau i te tau 1982 i te Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, me te tohu paetahi i roto i te whare, whare me te whakamahere taone i te tau 1986 mai i te Institute of Housing Studies i Rotterdam, Netherlands. I mahi ia i tetahi umanga hoahoanga motuhake i mua i tana whiwhinga e Akhter Hameed Khan hei Kaiwhakahaere Tuarua mo te Kaupapa Paerata o Orangi i te 1983, i whakahaerehia ai e ia nga kaupapa whare me te horoi horoi. I te tau 1988, i wehewehea te OPP ki nga whakahaere e wha, a ka noho a Perween Rahman hei kaiwhakahaere o te OPP-RTI (Orangi Pilot Project <unk> Research and Training Institute), e whakahaere ana i nga kaupapa i roto i te maatauranga, whakangungu taiohi, whakaurunga wai me te kaainga haumaru.