Al-Zawahiri's father, Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri, came from a large family of doctors and scholars from Kafr Ash Sheikh Dhawahri, Sharqia, in which one of his grandfathers was Sheikh Mohammed al-Ahmadi al-Zawahiri (1887–1944) who was the 34th Grand Imam of al-Azhar.
Mohammed Rabie became a surgeon and a professor of pharmacy at Cairo University.
1945
Ayman Al-Zawahiri's mother, Umayma Azzam, came from a wealthy, politically active clan, the daughter of Abdel-Wahhab Azzam, a literary scholar who served as the president of Cairo University, the founder and inaugural rector of the King Saud University (the first university in Saudi Arabia) as well as ambassador to Pakistan, while his own brother was Azzam Pasha, the founding secretary-general of the Arab League (1945–1952).
From his maternal side yet another relative was Salem Azzam, an Islamist intellectual and activist, for a time secretary-general of the Islamic Council of Europe based in London.
The wealthy and prestigious family is also linked to the Red Sea Harbi tribe in Zawahir, a small town in Saudi Arabia, located in the Badr.
He also has a maternal link to the house of Saud: Muna, the daughter of Azzam Pasha (his maternal great-uncle), is married to Mohammed bin Faisal Al Saud, the son of the late King Faisal.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri said that he has a deep affection for his mother.
Her brother, Mahfouz Azzam, became a role model for him as a teenager.
He has a younger brother, Muhammad al-Zawahiri, a younger sister, Heba Mohamed al-Zawahiri, and a twin sister, Umnya al-Zawahiri.
Heba became a professor of medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University.
She described her brother as "silent and shy".
1951
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (أيمن محمد ربيع الظواهري; 19 June 1951 – 31 July 2022), was an Egyptian-born militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until his death in July 2022.
Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cairo University with a degree in medicine and a master's degree in surgery and was a surgeon by profession.
He became a leading figure in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, an Egyptian Islamist organization, and eventually attained the rank of emir.
Ayman al-Zawahiri was born on 19 June 1951 in Giza, Egypt to Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri and Umayma Azzam.
1974
Al-Zawahiri studied medicine at Cairo University and graduated in 1974 with gayyid giddan, or roughly on par with a grade of "B" in the American grading system.
Following that, he served 1974–1978 as a surgeon in the Egyptian Army after which he established a clinic near his parents in Maadi.
1978
In 1978, he also earned a master's degree in surgery.
He spoke Arabic, English, and French.
1981
He was imprisoned from 1981 to 1984 for his role in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
1995
His actions against the Egyptian government, including his planning of the 1995 attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan, resulted in him being sentenced to death in absentia during the 1999 "Returnees from Albania" trial.
A close associate of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri held significant sway over the group's operations.
1998
He was wanted by the United States and the United Nations, respectively, for his role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and in the 2002 Bali bombings.
Muhammad was sentenced on charges of undergoing military training in Albania in 1998.
1999
He was arrested in the UAE in 1999, and sentenced to death in 1999 after being extradited to Egypt.
He was held in Tora Prison in Cairo as a political detainee.
Security officials said he was the head of the Special Action Committee of Islamic Jihad, which organized terrorist operations.
2001
He merged the Egyptian Islamic Jihad with al-Qaeda in 2001 and formally became bin Laden's deputy in 2004.
The New York Times in 2001 described al-Zawahiri as coming from "a prosperous and prestigious family that gives him a pedigree grounded firmly in both religion and politics".
Al-Zawahiri's parents both came from prosperous families.
2011
He succeeded bin Laden as al-Qaeda's leader after bin Laden's death in 2011.
In May 2011, the U.S. announced a $25 million bounty for information leading to his capture.
On July 31, 2022, al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan.
After the Egyptian popular uprising in the spring of 2011, on March 17, 2011, he was released from prison by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the interim government of Egypt.
His lawyer said he had been held to extract information about his brother Ayman al-Zawahiri.
On March 20, 2011, he was re-arrested.
2013
On August 17, 2013, Egyptian authorities arrested Muhammad al-Zawahiri at his home in Giza.
2017
He was acquitted in 2017.
Ayman al-Zawahiri was reportedly a studious youth.
He excelled in school, loved poetry, and "hated violent sports", which he thought were "inhumane."
