Editing Ahmed Yassin (section)

==Early life and education==
Ahmed Yassin was born in [[al-Jura]], a small village near the city of [[Ashkelon]], in the [[Mandatory Palestine]].{{sfn|Kabahā|2014|pp=323}} His date of birth is not known for certain: according to his Palestinian passport, he was born on 1 January 1929, but he claimed to have actually been born in the summer of 1936. His father, Abdullah Yassin, died when he was three years old. Afterward, he became known in his neighborhood as Ahmad Sa'ada after his mother Sa'ada al-Habeel. This was to differentiate him from the children of his father's other three wives. Together, Yassin had four brothers and two sisters. He and his entire family fled to [[Gaza City|Gaza]], settling in [[al-Shati Camp]] after his village was [[ethnically cleansed]]{{sfn|Pappe|2017|p=240}} by the [[Israel Defense Forces]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref name = AlJazeerah/>{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=15}}

Yassin came to Gaza as a [[Palestinian refugee|refugee]]. When he was 16, he sustained a severe spinal injury while wrestling his friend Abdullah al-Khatib. His neck was kept in plaster for 45 days. The damage to his spinal cord rendered him a [[quadriplegic]] for the rest of his life. Fearing a rift between his family and al-Khatib's, Yassin initially told his family that he sustained his injuries while playing [[leapfrog]] during a sports lesson with his school friends on the beach.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levitt |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Min9VpiravsC&dq=Ahmed+Yassin+1936&pg=PA34 |title=Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad |date=2008-10-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-12901-4 |language=en}}</ref>

Although Yassin applied to and attended [[Al-Azhar University]] in [[Cairo]], he was unable to pursue his studies there due to his deteriorating health. He was forced to be educated at home where he read widely, particularly on philosophy and on religion, politics, sociology, and economics. His followers believe that his worldly knowledge made him "one of the best speakers in the Gaza Strip". During this time, he began delivering weekly sermons after [[Friday prayer]]s, drawing large crowds of people.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}}

After years of unemployment, he got a post as an [[Arabic language]] teacher at an elementary school in [[Rimal]], Gaza. Headmaster Mohammad al-Shawa initially had reservations about Yassin, concerning the reception he would receive from the pupils due to his disability. However, according to al-Shawa, Yassin handled them well and his popularity grew, especially among the more scholarly children. His teaching methods reportedly provoked mixed reactions among parents because he encouraged his students to attend the mosque an additional two times a week.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=16}} Having a regular job gave Yassin financial stability, and he married one of his relatives Halima Yassin in 1960 at the age of 22.{{sfn|Chehab|2007|p=17}} The couple had eleven children.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9c80EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT212|publisher=Seven Stories Press|title=Hamas From Resistance to Regime|first=Paola|last=Caridi|date=2023|page=212|isbn=978-1-64421-197-7 }}</ref>