Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy was born in Kuwait in 1976 and is a Kuwaiti national and a qari. He is the Imam of Masjid Al-Kabir (Grand Mosque (Kuwait)) in Kuwait City, and leads the taraweeh prayers in Ramadan every year. He studied in the College of the Quran and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and has specialized in the ten readings and translations of the Quran. Also, he has been certified by a number of scholars of Quran. A nasheed (Arabic: singular نشيد nashīd, plural أناشيد anāshīd, meaning: "chants"; also nasyid in Malaysia and Indonesia) is a work of vocal music that is either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments such as the daf. In general, Islamic anasheed do not contain lamellaphone instruments, string instruments, or wind and brass instruments, although digital remastering – either to mimic percussion instruments or create overtones – is permitted. This is because many Muslim scholars state that Islam prohibits the use of musical instruments except for some basic percussion.
Nasheed are popular throughout the Islamic world. The material and lyrics of a nasheed usually make reference to Islamic beliefs, history, and religion, as well as current events.