# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/abdullah-yusuf-azzam
# Generated: 2026-09-01T05:04:17.581Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/abdullah-yusuf-azzam"
name: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
slug: "abdullah-yusuf-azzam"
description: "Palestinian theologian who issued the 1979 fatwa calling for defensive jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, then recruited and mentored Osama bin Laden into the war. Co-founded the mujahideen funding network that seeded what became al-Qaeda. Killed by car bomb in Peshawar months after Soviet withdrawal."
tagline: "Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and Salafi jihadist (1941–1989)"
image: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Abdullah_Azzam.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1941"
deathDate: "1989-11-24"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           55.83
  momentum:             0.1137320977253581
  historical:           23.25927333333334
  currentAttention:     0.6318449873631004
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "News Broadcasting"
    slug: "news-broadcasting"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
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    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12853478/"
    handle:    "nm12853478"
sources:
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Wikidata"
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    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "আবদুল্লাহ ইউসুফ আযযাম"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "عەبدوڵڵا عەزام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdallah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Yusuf_Azzam"
    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "عبدالله عزام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_Azzam"
    title: "Abdallah Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdallah_Azzam"
    title: "Abdallah Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%93%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%9C%D7%94_%D7%A2%D7%96%D7%90%D7%9D"
    title: "עבדאללה עזאם"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAzzām"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "アブドゥッラー・アッザーム"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "ശൈഖ് അബ്ദുല്ല യൂസഫ് അസ്സാം"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Yusuf Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdullah Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abd Allah Azzam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "عبدالله عزام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B1%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D0%90%D0%B7%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BC"
    title: "Абдулла Аззам"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Abdulah Jusuf Azam"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "عبد الله عزام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "عبد الله عزام"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Abdullah Yusuf Azzam fled the West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War and pursued religious studies in Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia within the Salafi movement. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, he issued a fatwa declaring defensive jihad and moved to Pakistan, where he became a key figure persuading Osama bin Laden to join the mujahideen cause. In 1984, Azzam and bin Laden co-founded Maktab al-Khidamat to funnel money and foreign fighters into Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, he continued advocating jihadist militancy for Muslim causes worldwide, earning him the title "father of global jihad" in militant circles. He was killed by a car bomb in Peshawar in November 1989, assailants unknown. His son later said Azzam would have rejected al-Qaeda's tactics of targeting civilians and using kidnappings and beheadings.