Mishary Rashid Alafasy (Arabic: مشاري بن راشد العفاسي; born 5 September 1976) is a Kuwaiti qari and imam. He leads prayers at the Grand Mosque in Kuwait City, and his clear, gentle recitation is among the most listened-to in the world today. His recitation is the first choice in the Muslim Chat Quran.
Early life and education
Alafasy was born in Kuwait on 5 September 1976. He studied at the College of the Holy Quran of the Islamic University of Madinah, specialising in the ten readings (qira'at) of the Quran and in tafsir, its explanation.
Career
He is the imam of the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Kabir) in Kuwait City. Since the late 1990s his recordings have spread around the world, and online his recitations of Surahs such as Al-Baqarah, Al-Kahf and Ya-Sin have been played many millions of times.
Besides the Quran, he has recorded nasheeds and du'as.
Style
His murattal recitation is calm and clear, with careful tajweed and a gentle melody, which makes it easy to follow along in the Mushaf. That is why many people use it for learning and for hifz, and why it is the recitation Muslim Chat offers first.
Listening in Muslim Chat
In the Muslim Chat Quran, open any Surah and choose Alafasy under Recitation: the Surah is recited ayah by ayah, the ayah being recited is highlighted on the Mushaf page, and the pages turn by themselves. The Surah pages of this website have the same choice. Listen to Alafasy recite Surah Ya-Sin, Surah Ar-Rahman, Surah Al-Mulk, Surah Al-Kahf or Surah Al-Fatihah.
See also
- Abdul Basit Abdus Samad — Egyptian qari (1927–1988) known as “the Golden Throat”
- Mahmoud Khalil Al-Husary — Egyptian qari (1917–1980)
- Muhammad Siddiq Al-Minshawi — Egyptian qari (1920–1969) from a family of reciters
- Abdur-Rahman As-Sudais — Saudi qari and imam of Masjid al-Haram in Makkah since 1984
- Saad Al-Ghamdi — Saudi qari and imam from Dammam (born 1967)
- List of Quran reciters in Muslim Chat
- Qari — what a reciter is
- Read the Holy Quran online
References
- Mishari bin Rashid Alafasy. Wikipedia. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
This page was last updated on 3 October 2026.