Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was born in the village of Ass-ba'ah Al-Hartiyeh, Jenin, Occupied Palestine in 1941. He was brought up in a humble house where he was taught Islam, and was fed with the love of Allah Azzawajal, Rasulullah sallallaahu 'alayhi wasallam, those striving in the Way of Allah Azzawajal, the righteous people and the desire for the Hereafter.

Shaikh Abdullah started propagating Islam at an early age. He received his early elementary and secondary school education in his village, and obtained a Diploma at the Khadorri College. He then worked as a teacher in Adder, Jordan. Later he joined Shari’ah College in Damascus University where he obtained a BA Degree in Shari’ah in 1966.

After the Jews captured the West Bank in 1967, Shaikh Abdullah Azzam migrated to Jordan, because he could not live under the Jewish occupation of Palestine. The sacrilege of the Israeli tanks rolling into the West Bank without any resistance made him more determined to migrate and to learn the skills necessary to fight.

In the late 1960's he joined the Jihad against the Israeli occupation of Palestine from Jordan. During that time he received a Masters Degree in Shari’ah from AI Azhar University. In 1971 he was awarded a scholarship to AI Azhar University where he  obtained a PhD in Usool al Fiqh in 1973. During his stay in Egypt he came to know the family of Sayyid Qutb rahimahullah.

In 1979, when he was expelled from the University, he moved to Pakistan to be close to the Afghan Jihad and became acquainted with the leaders of the Jihad against the Soviets. Initially in Pakistan, he worked as a teacher in the International Islamic University in Islamabad. Eventually, he resigned in order to devote his full time and energy to the Jihad.

Shaikh Abdullah Azzam was greatly influenced by the Afghan Jihad and the Jihad by him. He changed the minds of Muslims about Jihad in Afghanistan and presented the Jihad as it was: an Islamic cause concerning all Muslims around the world, thereby alienating misconceptions that had been planted in the path of Jihad.

On Friday 24th November 1989 in Peshawar, Pakistan, he was assassinated along with his two sons Muhammad and Ibrahim, by 20kg of TNT activated by remote control while he was driving to Jumu’ah Salaah. The explosion was so intensive that fragments from the bodies of his sons were found up to a hundred meters away. Nevertheless, Allah be glorified, the Shaikh was found perfectly intact, except for an internal haemorrhage, which caused his death.

Many people present will confirm to the smell of musk that emanated from his body that day.