[1] Syed Hossain's mother was the daughter of Nawab Abdul Latif, a social reformer of Bengal.

[1][5] Hossain returned to India in 1916 and started his journalism career early in life at Bombay Chronicle and later joined the Motilal Nehru's nationalist newspaper, The Independent where he soon became the editor.

[citation needed] Then, from 1924 until 1928, he served as editor of The New Orient, a publication that aimed to bring East and West cultures closer together.

Gandhiji, Einstein, Horniman, Kahlil Gibran, Bertrand Russell, HG Wells, Sarojini Naidu, and CF Andrews all contributed to the issues he edited.

[6][15][10] During his time in Allahabad, Hossain experienced an unfortunate romance that would define his following career and maybe wipe him out of Indian history forever.

The 19-year-old Sarup Kumari (later Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit), the daughter of Motilal Nehru, and Hossain, who was 12 years her senior, fell in love, eloped, and were married according to Muslim customs.

Hossain was hastily transferred to the UK, where he was supposed to travel to London to advocate for the Khilafat movement, while Sarup Kumari was assigned to spend six months at Sabarmati Ashram.