Cesar Adib Majul was born in Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines, on October 21, 1923. He was educated at the University of the Philippines and Cornell University. From 1961 until 1966, he was Dean of the University College, University of the Philippines, and from 1969 until 1971, he was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines. He received the Republic Heritage Award for "the most outstanding contribution to historical writing" during the period from May 1, 1960 to April 30, 1961, as well as the First Prize in the Biography Contest on the Life of Apolinario Mabini in 1964. From the University of the Philippines, he received the Distinguished Scholar Award in 1968.
Majul's father was an Orthodox Christian from Syria, while his mother was Ibanag. He converted to Islam in his adulthood.
His major works include The Political and Constitutional Ideas of the Philippine Revolution (1957, 1968, 1996), Mabini and the Philippine Revolution (1960, 1996), Apolinario Mabini: Revolutionary (1964), and Muslims in the Philippines (1973). He died of cancer on Saturday, October 11, 2003 in his home in San Pablo, California.