Born into an upper class Egyptian in home, al-Zawahiri's involvement in the Islamic Jihad movement began when he was 16 years old, when he became heavily involved in Islamic groups in Egypt, including a plot by the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow the government of Gamal Abdel Nasser. His radical views came largely from the writings and life of Sayyid Qutb, a Muslam who led the Muslam Brotherhood before he was killed under Nassar's regime. His uncle Mahfouz Azzam (who was a former student of Qutb and later worked as Qutb's personal lawyer) told al-Zawahriri of Qutb's beliefs and story of his fight for Jihad.