The following year the Egyptian government executed Qutb for conspiracy, and al-Zawahiri, along with four other secondary school students, helped form an "underground cell devoted to overthrowing the government and establishing an Islamist state."
Året efter henrettede den egyptiske regering under præsident Nasser Qutb for beskyldninger om konspiration, og Zawahiri dannede sammen med fire andre unge studerende en "undergrundscelle, dedikeret til at vælte regeringen og etablere en islamisk stat".