Kamal al Mughani was born 1943 in Gaza, and studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Alexandria. Soon after his return to Palestine, the 1967 war broke out, following which he moved to the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, where he taught in United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools. He was imprisoned by the occupation forces between 1969–1972. In 1985 he established The Fine Arts School at Al-Najah University in Nablus, and was a member of the Palestinian Association of Artists.

Al Mughani was known for his works that addressed the resistance struggle, using motifs such as the Palestinian map, the rifle, the dove of peace, the kufiyyeh, and the fedayeen (freedom fighters). Many of his works were printed as posters. In the 1980s, his paintings moved to explore Palestinian folklore. He created numerous works that included popular symbols, such as Palestinian traditional dress and handicrafts, where the Palestinian peasant woman was a recurring theme in his work, symbolizing steadfastness on the land and the keeper of traditions.

Al Mughani has received a number of awards during his lifetime, including the Soviet Artists Union Award in 1979; the Dundee Municipality Medal, Scotland, in 1981; and the Second Golden Sail Award, Kuwait, in 1989.