The daughter of a wealthy administrator, Huda grew up in Cairo, Egypt. When Huda was a child, she was jealous of the advantages that were given her brother simply because he was a male. When she was thirteen, Huda learned of her aranged marriage as a second wife to a much older cousin. She was very displeased by this, and at first, refused to obey. In an effort to avoid bringing shame to her father's name, and much heartache to her mother, she reluctantly agreed to the arrangement.

The marriage didn't go smoothly, and Huda lived away from her husband for seven years. During these years, she met women who wanted to change their status. In Egypt at this time, it was considered proper for women to stay mainly in the private world of the home, or harem. In public, women wore the hegab the traditional veil that covers a woman's hair, and often much of her face. When Huda was twenty - one, she reconciled with her husband, and had two children. She was, however, a different person from the thirteen - year - old girl her husband had married. Huda began organizing lectures for women, which brought women outside their homes and into public halls for the first time. She invited speakers who talked about the condition of women, and even convinced royal princesses to help her establish the first women's welfare society, which raised money to help impoverished women.

After World War I, Egypt's struggle to free itself from British rule escalated. Many women joined the effort, ignoring the harem way of life for the first time to take part in public political action. In 1919, Huda helped organize the largest women's anti - British demonstration. When British soldiers tried to stop a women's march, Huda was ready to defy them until she realized that that would endanger the women's lives. Instead, she had the women stand still, in silent protest, for three hours in the hot sun, until they dispersed.

When Huda's husband died in 1922, she made the decision to stop wearing her veil in public, and campaigned successfully for reforms for women, such as raising the minimum marriage age for girls to sixteen, increasing educational opprotunities, and improving women's health care. In 1944, Huda founded the All - Arab Federation of women, and her act of public unveiling and her work for women's independence served as an example for many others throughout the Middle East.