Muslim activist, author Mustafa Tahhan dies at 81

By Said Ibicioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Mustafa Tahhan, founding chairman of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO), died at the age of 81 on Thursday.

The funeral of the Muslim activist, a contemporary of former Turkish Prime Minister Necmeddin Erbakan, was held at the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul.

Tahhan was born in 1938 in northern Lebanon and completed his primary and secondary education in Syria.

After studying chemical engineering at Istanbul University, he worked at an oil refinery in Kuwait until 1979.

In 1980, Tahhan was nominated as the secretary general to IIFSO.

Under his supervision, a number of books on Islamic studies were translated to many languages.

Tahhan was elected secretary general of International Islamic Youth Symposium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He was also part of the consultative committee of Lebanon-based al-Akhbar magazine.

Some of the books he wrote include Modern Islamic Movements in Turkey and Turkey I Know. They have been translated to many languages including Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Kurdish and Persian.

He was buried at Istanbul's Merkezefendi Cemetery where Erbakan's grave is also located.