In response to an epidemic within the Singaporean Muslim community of women being abandoned by their husbands through inexpensive, informal divorces, Siraj and the PPIS successfully pressed for the formation of a Syariah Court.

She was mother to law professor Mehrun Siraj (1945-2021) and grandmother to actor-director Huzir Sulaiman (b.

[1] Khatijun Nissa Siraj was born in 1925, the daughter of a wealthy businessman of Indian descent.

Before becoming an activist, Siraj spent her time as a volunteer at the St. Andrew's Mission Hospital and as a member of the management committees of the Singapore Children's Society and the Family Planning Association.

Despite the passage of the Charter, and improvements to divorce and polygamy laws, women in the community were in need of social services.