[3][4] A native of southern Kashmir's Anantnag district, Rather studied at the Sainik School Nagrota near Jammu from Class VI in 1978.

[5] Rather was commissioned into the regular (flying) branch of the IAF as a pilot officer on 17 December 1988, with the service number 19863,[2] He passed out from the Air Force Academy at Dundigal as the "Best All-Round Pilot", winning both the President's Plaque and the academy Sword of Honor.

[12] As defense air attaché in Paris, Rather is one of only four IAF officers in this role; the others are posted at the Indian missions in the U.S., the U.K. and Russia.

[6] His father was Muhammad Abdullah Rather SM (d. 2013), a decorated veteran of the 1962 Sino-Indian War who fought with the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and who subsequently joined the J&K police, retiring as a deputy superintendent.

[6] His brother is a teacher in Anantnag, a chemistry lecturer, while his three elder sisters retired after careers in teaching and in the law; both his parents are deceased.