At the time, many of al-Roda's inhabitants were impoverished, although Dawoud's family lived in relatively better conditions, owning about 100 feddans of land.

He briefly joined the Muslim Brotherhood during his time at King Fuad University, but left shortly after due to his disillusionment with what he called "absolutist religious thinking.

"[3] During his university years, Dawoud took an interest in socialism and political activism, joining the National Party headed by Abd al-Rahman al-Rafai in 1946.

He continued his law practice in the Damietta area after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, when the Free Officers Movement overthrew the monarchy of King Farouk.

"[3] When the Free Officers, who governed through the Revolutionary Command Council, established a single-party system in 1953 with the Liberation Rally being the only legal political movement of the state, Dawoud joined it.

Sadat faced opposition from Dawoud and the members of Sabri's camp, who favored a form of collective leadership to fill the political vacuum left by Nasser.

[9] In disapproval of Sadat's policies, which they viewed as running counter to the goals of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution and Nasser's legacy, members of the pro-Sabri faction, including Dawoud, announced their resignation on 13 May.

[10] Later that month, Sadat announced that members of the pro-Sabri faction were orchestrating a coup to topple him and ordered the arrests of Sabri and his allies, including Dawoud.

[13] The party modeled itself as the upholder of Nasser's legacy, calling for state-led economic growth, rejection of Zionism and American imperialism and closer inter-Arab ties.

Dawoud succeeded in arguing that the provision law ran counter to articles 66 and 187 of the constitution because it was a form of retroactive punishment and barred a person's political rights.

[1] However, the party failed to win any seats in the 2005 and 2010 elections amid internal divisions, low sources of funding and government financial pressure and harassment.