Datuk Dr. Mashitah binti Haji Ibrahim was born in Kedah. She received her early education at the Sultanah Asma Primary School and at the Taufiqiah Pondok Syaikh Yahaya Junaid School, Padang Lumat Kedah. She continued her studies at Mahmud College, Alor Setar and then enrolled in Al-Azhar University, Cairo Egypt where she graduated with her Bachelor's degree in 1987. In the same year, she pursued her doctorate studies at Darul Ulum, Cairo University, where she obtained her doctorate in the field of Syariah Islamiyyah, specialising in 'Tafsir and Hadis'.

Subsequently she successfully completed her studies for her master's degree at the Malaysian International Islamic University (IIU), specializing in Revealed Knowledge and Heritage in 1992. Datuk Dr. Mashitah was the first lady student from Malaysia to obtained a first class Doctorate from one of the leading universities in Egypt, that is Cairo University in 1997.

Career

• Lecturer/ Missionary
  
• Penal Member, Programme for Motivation and Islamic Family through the Printing and Electronic Media
  
• Currently, she is one of the lecturers at the International Islamic University of Malaysia as an Associate Professor in the Department of Quran and Sunnah Kuliyyah Wahyu and Political Science.

Her involvement in the missionary movement is not new. She has been trained to do so by her parents since she was thirteen years old. In the early stage, she was active in giving talks only in or around the International Islamic University itself. Later she started the family motivation programme that combine counselling with motivation and family traits that are universal in nature. Her appearance through the radio and television is well-received and that marked the beginning of her efforts in propagating her series of missionary lectures through the programmes: 'Adikku Sayang', 'Al-Kuliyyah' and 'Islamic Affairs Forum'.
In appreciation of her services and especially in the field of missionary works, she was bestowed an award by the Sultan of Pahang which carries the title Datuk.