Badr Jafar was born and raised in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In 1994, he continued his education at Eton College, and graduated in 1999 from Cambridge University with a master's degree in engineering and additional studies in astrophysics. In 1996, Harvard University awarded Jafar the Harvard Book Award, presented to students who "display excellence in scholarship and high character, combined with achievements in other fields."