Al-Zawahiri’s rise to prominence can be attributed to his involvement in extremist activities from an early age. He joined the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a militant organization, in the 1970s and eventually became one of its leaders. He was implicated in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 and was imprisoned for three years. After his release, Al-Zawahiri continued to pursue his militant activities and eventually merged Egyptian Islamic Jihad with Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s.