[5] An avowed advocate of Nasserism,[6] Abu Zayd has had a major impact on Egyptian law and policy in the areas of social affairs and insurance.

[7] Born in the village of Shaykh Daud, located near the city of al-Qusiyya in Asyut Governorate, Abu Zayd grew up in a nationalist household.

[11] Abu Zayd was part of a new female leadership that shared the same lower middle class background of Nasser and his fellow Free Officers.

[12] Her appointment by Nasser was made in the context of his new socialist program, which put emphasis on broadening access to education and employment for all people, regardless of gender or social class.

Including a woman in the cabinet was a way for him to co-opt female-run charitable organizations into the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), the country's newly formed sole political party.

She strongly supported a law that prohibited Islamic oral repudiation and made it mandatory for a husband to go to court to be able to divorce his wife.

[18] In order to combat mendicity, she imposed prison terms on recidivist beggars who returned to begging after they had received state-sponsored training in handicrafts.

[19] In addition to registering NGOs and expanding their development activities, she launched projects aimed at improving the status of rural women.

[20] One of the most sensitive tasks assigned to Abu Zayd was the relocation of thousands of Nubians, displaced by the construction of the Aswan Dam, to newly built villages.

[8] Abu Zayd spent nearly two decades in Libya, during which time she taught political science at Al Fateh University in Tripoli.

[22] Due to her opposition to Sadat's peace overture to Israel, Abu Zayd was accused of high treason, terrorism and spying, and was consequently deprived of her Egyptian nationality.

[20] A long legal battle ensued, which was finally resolved in late 1991 when a judge ruled that Abu Zayd and her husband were entitled to their Egyptian passports.

[23] During her stay at the hospital, Abu Zayd granted an interview to Almasry Alyoum newspaper in which she defended Nasser's legacy and lamented the loss of tolerance in Egypt.