Ashmawy was born in 1978.[3] His father, Ali Ashmawy, was a French language teacher, and his mother, Ghalia Ali Abdelmegid, worked in a school.[4] Little information exists about his life prior to joining the Egyptian Armed Forces, though he was known by family and friends to be an association football enthusiast.[3] In 2003, Lieutenant Ashmawy married Nesreen Sayed Ali, a former senior year student in Abdelmegid's school who became a teaching assistant at Ain Shams University.[4] They had two sons and lived in a building that was built by his father in the 10th District of Nasr City, Cairo.[5]