Sumbul Ali-Karamali grew up in Southern California. She earned her undergraduate degree in English, with Distinction, from Stanford University. After working as an editor in a small publishing company, she attended law school and graduated with her J.D. from the University of California at Davis. She practiced corporate law in San Francisco for several years.

Although always a practicing Muslim, Sumbul began the formal study of Islam when she attended the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She graduated from SOAS with her L.L.M. in Islamic Law, with Distinction. She taught Islamic Law as a teaching assistant at the University of London, worked as a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London, and has lectured occasionally on Islam and Islamic law. She has had several articles published, two in legal journals. Her new book, an accessible, yet scholarly, anecdote-filled introduction to Islam and Islamic law written for the lay reader, is due to be published by White Cloud Press in August of 2008, and is called The Muslim Next Door: the Qur'an, the Media, and that Veil Thing.

Sumbul is currently raising her two children, preparing for the publication of her book, and volunteering her time to various causes. She serves on the board of trustees of a nonprofit educational institution that teaches multicultural education and environmental education to children and youth. She also plays her violin and offers the occasional Indian cooking class.