Originating in the Berber village of Takrouna, he studied in Lycée Carnot de Tunis along with Habib Bourguiba who was his best friend.

[1] His doctoral thesis is titled as "The evolution of sharaa and its judicial enforcement in Tunisia".

[2] In 1928, he obtained his Paris Institute of Political Studies diploma, in the public finance section.

In 1932, he was one of the founders of L'Action Tunisienne newspaper along with Habib Bourguiba, Tahar Sfar and Mahmoud El Materi.

[3] In 1934, he organized with L'Action team the Ksar Hellal Congress which ended with the creation of the Neo Destour party, on March 2, 1934.