al-Mahdi was born in Omdurman in 1965. She joined the Umma Party and eventually reached a leadership position within it. She received her first degree in general medicine from the University of Jordan in 1991, followed by a degree in tropical paediatric medicine from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in 1995. She practiced medicine for six years as a general practitioner in the mid-1990’s in Sudan’s children hospitals. al-Mahdi received a higher diploma in development and gender issues from Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman in 2006, and a Bachelor of Law from Neelain University in Sudan in 2013.
