She was educated in India, and also spent parts of her childhood in Afghanistan, Bhutan, and New York, as a consequence of her father's diplomatic postings.
Her husband, Bernard Haykel, is of Lebanese and Polish descent, and teaches at Princeton University.
Prior to that, she was the curator in charge of co-ordinating the Metropolitan Museum of Art's New Islamic Galleries project.
"[10] Haidar then lectured on the exhibition in India, with presentations on the collection, receiving largely positive reviews.
"[23] In addition to her curatorial work, Haidar has made contributions on art history in The Hindu and Newsweek Pakistan.