[1] Abdul Halim was born on 6 December 1901 to a Bengali Muslim family in the village of Keuburi in Burdwan district, located in the Bengal Province of the British Raj.

His father, Abul Husayn, was an employee of the Zamindars of Kirnahar, and his grandfather, Munshi Abdul Baset, was a circle inspector for Calcutta Police.

[2] After studying up to class IX at Shivachandra High School in Kirnahar, he left home and came to Calcutta, working as a labourer on a ship for some time.

[4] After his release, he made contact with Muzaffar Ahmad and Addur Rezzak Khan; and joined the Workers and Peasants Party.

[5] In 1925, he co-founded the Labor Swaraj Party alongside Hemant Kumar Sarkar, writer Naresh Chandra Sengupta, and advocate Atul Gupta.