In 1946, he began his career as a journalist and cartoonist in many of the Egyptian newspapers, journals and magazines.
In 1953, following the revolution that brought President Gamal Abdel Nasser to power, Toughan was one of the co-founders of Al Gomhuria daily newspaper.
In the 1980s, Toughan created the weekly cartoon magazine, Caricature, along with his fellow cartoonist Mustafa Hussein.
Throughout his career, Toughan has published more than 50,000 cartoons in daily newspapers, magazines and 11 illustrated books since 1946.
Toughan is considered among the most revered of politico-social cartoonists in the Arab World.