text: Instead of pursuing the PLO's Marxist-oriented national liberation struggle supported by the Soviet Union, Azzam envisioned a pan-Islamic trans-national movement that would transcend the political map of the Middle East drawn by European colonial powers.
  Islamic studies in Egypt
  In Egypt Azzam continued his studies at the prestigious Al-Azhar University, getting a PhD in Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence in 1973, while being acquainted during his stay with the ideas of Sayyid Qutb. He completed his 600-page doctoral thesis in around 16 months.
  Some researchers believe he had a role as an ideologist in founding the Islamist Hamas movement in Palestine.
  Professor in Saudi Arabia
  Azzam took a position as lecturer at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he remained until 1979. Osama bin Laden was enrolled as a student in the university between 1976 and 1981 and probably first met Azzam during that time.
  Involvement in the Soviet–Afghan War
  When the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan on request of the Khalqist government in 1979, Azzam issued a fatwa, Defence of the Muslim Lands, the First Obligation after Faith, declaring that both the Afghan and Palestinian struggles were jihads and that all able-bodied Muslims had a duty to fight against foreign occupations of Islamic countries. The edict was supported by Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Abd al-Aziz Bin Baz.
  Activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan