al-Zawahiri (Arabic: الظواهري, aẓ-Ẓawāhirī) is an Arabic surname or nisbah derived from name of the town of Zawahir, Saudi Arabia.[1] The definite article "al-" is sometimes omitted. Alternate spellings include Dhawahiri, Dhawahri, and Zawahri.
- ^ Kepel, Gilles (2004). The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West. Translated by Pascale Ghazaleh. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 78. ISBN 0674015754.
His family name originated in the town of Zawahir, in Saudi Arabia, between Mecca and Medina.