Teuku Iskandar was born at the district of Trienggadeng in the Pidie Jaya regencial territory of Aceh (part of modern-day Indonesia).
In 1955, he earned his doctorate from Leiden University with a dissertation which was later published as a book, De Hikajat Atjeh (lit.
His interest was mainly driven by his personal background because at that time he was part of the first-known generation of Acehnese who studied at the Leiden University in Netherlands.
His diligence in studying the Malay literature as one of the indigenous languages of Sumatra (and also the native culture of Sumatra in general) attracted another countries interest, such as the federation of Malaysia who had no capable linguists or even scholars at that time (as Malaysia was developed as newly created country), he was offered to work at the Dewan Pustaka dan Bahasa (lit.
During his tenure, Teuku Iskandar asked by the Malaysia's linguistic council to copied the Bahasa Indonesia dan Pembakuannya (lit.
His works are still used as the main linguistic source for the Standard Malay until nowadays in all respective Malay-speaking countries (which may include Singapore).
“When there is a moment like that, my mother usually asks me to bring a recording device to save the interesting conversation,” recalls Ubit.
In Ubit's eyes, his father was not interested in politics even though he loved Sumatran (especially Acehnese and Malay) culture very much, he was an intellectual who carried himself as a citizen of the world.
At his home in the Netherlands, Teuku Iskandar designed a fireplace made of wood from a bridge from the 17th century with Acehnese decorations.
In one of his works, a book that discusses Bustanas-Salatin by Nuruddin ar-Ranniry, Teuku Iskandar asked Ubit to translate it into English.
For years, the father and daughter studied books by 17th century clerics who were read by scholars and sultans in the Aceh Kingdom.