[3] Begum's paternal grandfather moved to the United Kingdom from Sylhet Division, Bangladesh, to fight for the British in the Second World War.
[2] Her father, Awlad, worked as a tailor-cum-machinist in a factory making leather jackets for high street fashion stores[2] and her mother, Minara, was a housewife.
[2][4] In 2009, Begum defeated a Malaysian opponent to win a bronze medal at the World Amateur Kickboxing Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.
[4] On 27 November 2010, in her first final, Begum defeated Paige Farrington to win the British Muay Thai Atomweight Kickboxing Championship Professional title from the Duel at the Dome contest in Doncaster.
[12] On 31 July 2011, Begum won a gold medal at the European Club Cup Amateur Muay Thai Championship in Latvia.
[13] On 6 September 2012, Begum was nominated as British Muay Thai Team Captain and won bronze at the International Federation of Muaythai Amateur (IFMA) World Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
[6][14][15][16][17][18] On 13 April 2013, Begum fought Silvia La Notte from Italy at the New Bingley Hall in Birmingham for the International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) World Championship.
[34] On 17 March, Begum made her professional boxing debut under Queensberry Rules against Bulgaria's Ivanka Ivanova in York Hall Bethnal Green, London, which was screened on Channel 5,[35][36][37] as an undercard for the Matty Askin vs. Stephen Simmons fight.
She also works as an instructor one night a week[5] giving free after-school[2][4] Muay Thai classes every Monday at the Lions Den Gym in Chadwell Heath, London[41] for the children in the East End.
[1] From 2009, she worked part-time, two days a week, as an unqualified science technician at Swanlea School in Whitechapel, London.
[46][47] She was first inspired to create the product when she saw sprinter Ruqaya Al-Ghasra struggle to wear a headscarf at the 2006 Asian Games.
[48] She thought up the idea during the London 2012 Olympics when she learnt of an American athlete who was told her Islamic headscarf did not meet health and safety requirements.
[49] The hijab is a fitted, breathable version of the traditional scarf worn to conceal Muslim women's hair and chests.
[citation needed] In February 2017, she featured in a 30-second Adidas advert which tells the stories of 15 women athletes and builds on the brand's marketing around defying convention titled 'Unleash Your Creativity'.
[70][71][72] In October 2016, Begum was named one of the "Young British Muslim Millennials Changing The World" by The Asian Today.
She moved back home to her parents' house[1] and spent months in bed[26] recuperating[1] In 2008, her husband filed for divorce.