After attaining his bachelor's degree in political science from the University of the Philippines in 1962, he entered the College of Law at University of the Philippines, Diliman but dropped his law studies in his second year after being convinced by his mentor and now national author, Caesar Majul, to pursue a master's degree related to political science.

[7][better source needed] Through Cesar Adib Majul, Misuari became a lecturer at the University of the Philippines in political science in July 1966 until his retirement as instructor on November 15, 1968.

As the movement gained momentum, Nur Misuari eventually assumed leadership of the MNLF, a position that led him to later seek forgiveness from Capt.

The Mindanao Independence Movement formed the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that sought political reforms from the government of the Philippines.

Misuari departed to Saudi Arabia in self-exile, returning to the Philippines after Marcos was removed from office during the People Power Revolution in 1986.

[8] After he was installed as the region's governor in 1996, his rule ended in violence when he led a failed rebellion against the Philippines government in November 2001,[9] thus illegally escaping to Sabah, Malaysia.

[11] However the Malaysian leader at the time, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resisted by saying; "We cannot entertain asylum as Misuari had not used his powers correctly although we provide support for him in the past for his bid on autonomy that saw the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)".

[15] According to Moro sources, Misuari is a "charismatic leader" who held considerable sway over the indigenous people in Mindanao but lost this backing because of his mismanagement and the corruption of his officials during his tenure as governor for the ARMM.

[25] On September 9, 2013, Misuari was convicted of his rebels encounter with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which saw massive casualties and thousands of residents been affected.

[26] In denying their action, the MNLF stated they were in Zamboanga City only to hold a peaceful rally to assert the implementation of the GRP-MNLF Agreement but they were coerced by the AFP that compelled them to defend their own lives.

[37][38] Despite Duterte's plans to drop charges against Misuari, the government of Zamboanga City has made a clear stand that they would pursue cases against Misuari for his previous siege in the city as they were obligated to follow the rule of law though they respected the actions of the President according to the city legal officer, Jesus Carbon Jr.[39] Misuari went on accusing neighboring Malaysia by claiming that Malaysia was using Moro people for kidnappings since the 2000 Sipadan kidnappings and said that he wanted to drag the country leaders to International Criminal Court (ICC), saying that "the [pieces of] evidence are available as his people are everywhere and Malaysia cannot escape as because they are continuing to hire Moro people".

[47] He also stated that he wouldn't sit on the same negotiating table with MILF who he described as "traitors", as well accusing fellow MNLF faction Muslimin Sema and ARMM Governor Mujib Hataman of "associating with drug lords and involvement in the 2016 Davao City bombing".

[49] Misuari was charged with graft following the "anomalous" bidding of educational materials that was committed between 2000 and 2001 during his term as the governor for the ARMM, amounting to ₱137.5 million.

According to the charge sheets filed before court by the Office of the Ombudsman on May 22, 2017, and released to media on May 24, Misuari authored the purchase of materials for 3 separate educational projects in the ARMM in 2000 and 2001.

Victoria Lim-Florido, was virtually present at the promulgation of the Decision of the Sandiganbayan's Third Division penned by Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang.

The cases originated from the procurement of around P77 million worth of educational materials purchased from MBJ Learning Tools and CPR Publishing when he was ARMM governor in 2000 and 2001.