Mishary Rashid Alafasy

Training

He memorised the whole Quran between 1992 and 1994, then enrolled at the College of the Holy Quran and Islamic Studies of the Islamic University of Madinah, specialising in the ten qira'at and in tafsir (exegesis). To refine his recitation he turned to leading Egyptian masters: he received an ijaza in the reading of 'Asim from Sheikh Abd al-Rafi' Radwan al-Sharqawi, an oral ijaza from Sheikh Ibrahim Ali Shahata al-Samannoudi, and an ijaza in the Hafs transmission from Sheikh Ahmad Abd al-Aziz al-Zayyat. He also read the reading of 'Asim, by the routes of the Shatibiyya and the Tayyiba, with Sheikh Ahmed Issa al-Ma'sarawi.

Imam and reciter

His first Quran release, featuring Surahs Ghafir, Fussilat and Ash-Shura, came out in 1416 AH (1995–96). He first led the prayers at the Grand Mosque of Kuwait during the last ten nights of Ramadan 1420 AH (1999–2000); he has been one of its imams ever since and also serves as a preacher with Kuwait's Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

He has recorded two complete murattal recitations of the Quran, the first in 1424 AH and the second, known as the "California" recording, in 1430 AH. As a specialist in the qira'at he has also recorded surahs in transmissions other than Hafs, including Warsh, Shu'ba and Khalaf. He has sat on the juries of several international Quran competitions.

Media and nasheed

He launched a satellite channel under his own name, the first Islamic channel in Kuwait, broadcasting his recitations, supplications and nasheed videos. His nasheed career began in 2003 with the poem "Aya man yadda'i al-fahm", followed in 2004 by his first album, "'Uyun al-Afa'i", and several more, such as "Hanini" and "Qalbi al-saghir". He also supports charitable and educational Quran projects, among them the Alafasy endowment (waqf) and the "Hafiz al-Quran" programme.

Honours

On 25 October 2008 the Arab Creativity Union in Egypt presented him with its first "Arab Creativity Oscar". He has also been awarded a medal by the Gulf Cooperation Council.