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Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and Salafi jihadist (1941-1989) · Palestine · Academics · Died at 48
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam is read about 846 times a day, in 33 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?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.
Also in Deutsch
Photos 7
In their own words 1
Every Moslem on earth should unsheathe his sword and fight to liberate Palestine. The Jihad is not limited to Afghanistan. Jihad means fighting.
About this person
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.
Academics from Palestine 6
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