[2] Abdullah al Mahmood was born on 4 April 1900, to a Bengali Muslim family of Taluqdars in the village of Koyelgati in Sheyalkol Union, Sirajganj which was formerly in Pabna District, Bengal Presidency.

He completed his IA in 1918, and moved on to study at the Calcutta Islamia College from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1920.

Al Mahmood then studied at the University of Calcutta's Presidency College where he gained his Bachelor of Laws certificate, and also left with a MA in Arabic.

[citation needed] From 1937 until the Independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947 he was elected member of Bengal legislative assembly and Bengal Legislative Council [5] During this period, the British colonial authorities offered him the honorary title of Khan Bahadur but Al Mahmood rejected it as a participant of the non-cooperation movement.

[citation needed] Al Mahmood's eldest son Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku served successively as the Bangladeshi State Minister of Power and Agriculture.

His daughter the late Tasmina Mahmood was a notable physician and the wife of Deputy Prime Minister of Bangladesh M.A.

[8][9] His eldest daughter was the late Ms. Tahmina Mahmud wife of the late Mahboobur Rahman Chowdhury who served as the Additional secretary in the ministry of education and planning and his youngest daughter is Ms. Tahsina Morshed wife of Mohammad Golam Morshed who was a lawyer, social worker and former governor of Lions Club International.