Malak was born in Cairo in 1886 to a middle-class family; her mother was Saniyyah Abd al-Karim Jalal, and her father was Hifni Bey Nasif, a lawyer who was a follower of Muhammad Abduh.

At one time a student of Al-Afghani, Nasir was the author of several textbooks used in Egyptian schools and was one of the five signatories to the 1342 Cairo text.

[3]: 184 [clarification needed] Malak was part of the first graduating class from the Girls’ Section of the ‘Abbas Primary School in 1901.

[2]: 67 Malak lived in Egypt during a period of growing intellectual and political discourse on the status of women in society.

This time period included influential players like Huda Sha'arawi, Qasim Amin, Nabawiyya Musa, and many more.

The dominant feminist ideas at the time tended to associate the advancement of women with Westernization and movement towards a more European-like society.

She believed that many of the wealthier women who unveiled were doing so because of an obsession with European fashion, not because of a desire for freedom or because they felt repressed by the veil.

[14]: 278  Malak despised the idea of a marriage rooted in economic reasons, i.e., a man marrying a woman simply for her money.

She opposed the implementation of missionary schools in Egypt, arguing that “the most ignorant of girls are the graduates of the missionary schools.”[4]: 84  Malak called for more Egyptian control over the public education system to create schools that taught girls a more comprehensive curriculum, including history of Egyptian culture.

She believed that much of the women's injustice resided in the home, that tarbiya, or the process of raising a child, was responsible for a woman's future.

[15]: 146  The practice of child rearing was one of the areas in which Malak thought that some Westernization would benefit Egyptian society, but she also believed strongly in the importance of teaching Islam to children.

[2]: 67  Malak later founded an emergency health service based on the Red Cross and a nursing school for women in her own home.

[3]: 184 One of Malak's most significant political actions was her presentation of a ten-point program for the improvement of women to the Egyptian Legislative Assembly in 1911.

[3]: 183  On the seventh anniversary of Nasif's death, Huda Sha’rawi held another commemoration that included the predominant feminist thinkers Nabawiyya Musa and May Ziadah.