Her father, Syed Badrudduja, was a mayor of Kolkata and a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly and India's Lok Sabha, and her mother was Zaynab Begum.

Through her paternal grandfather Syed Abdul Ghafur, her ancestors descended from Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam.

Islam served as the vice chairman of Jatiya Party's central ladies group and Chairperson of Bangladesh Jatiyo Mohila Songstha (Bairsal District).

She accompanied President Ziaur Rahman at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979 held in Lusaka, Zambia.

The couple had one son, Amirul Islam Khan Bulbul, and two daughters, Shabnam Wadud Kaya and Saguafa Khanam Joardar.