[1] Her father, landlord Syed Abid Hussain Shah, was an honorary Colonel in the Indian Army and a politician who was elected on the platform of the Muslim League for a seat in the Constituent Assembly of India in 1945–47.

[7] Hussain received a British-style education at Convent of Jesus and Mary in Lahore where she qualified for her Cambridge exams and later completed her O and A-Level qualifications from Surval Montreux in Switzerland.

[7][8] She spent additional semesters studying history in Florence in Italy but did not obtain her degree and returned to Pakistan after being arranged to marry Fakhar Imam, her cousin, who was a bureaucrat at that time.

[7][9][10] After the military takeover in 1999 and the presidential ordinance enforced in 2002, Abida was disqualified from participating in national politics due to the lack of submitting proof of a baccalaureate degree to the Election Commission, which is a requirement.

[13] After her father's death in 1971, Abida Hussain entered national politics on the platform of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and won Jhang constituency during the general elections held in 1970.

[21] At the time of her launch of her autobiography, she later identified the issue of nuclear weapons was the principal source of distress between bilateral ties of Pakistan and the United States.

[1] After the general elections held in 1993, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto recalled her from her diplomatic assignment, and posted Dr. Maliha Lodhi, a career officer, as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States.

"[26] After successfully defending her constituency during the general elections held in 1997, Abida Hussain joined the second administration of Sharif as the Minister of Food and Agriculture and later becoming the Ministry of Population Control and Census.

[19] Over the Kargil front in 1999, she sided with Prime Minister Sharif, and ultimately suggesting to call for the meeting with the Chairman joint chiefs Gen. Pervez Musharraf over this issue.

[32] After the military takeover of the federal government in 1999, Abida was imprisoned in Adiala Prison along with the leadership of the PML(N), and an inquiry was opened on her financial wealth that ultimately called her "a major defaulter.

[34] Despite agreeing on a deal with Musharraf's administration, she was disqualified to take further participation in general elections held in 2002, mainly due to failure to submit the proof of baccalaureate degree.