Al-Zindani was an active Yemeni politician and preacher and the founder of Iman University in Yemen. He was also the Founder of the Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur’an and Sunnah, the Chairman of the Shura Council of the Islah party (the Yemeni Congregation for Reform), and the Head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen. He was a vocal critic of terrorism and any killing of civilians. At the same time, he was an outspoken critic of US policies, declaring that jihad against any army that invades Yemen is self-defence and is the right of its citizens. The US Treasury labelled him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) for his indirect association with Al-Qaeda. Born in Ibb, al-Zindani spent time studying and living in Egypt, then Saudi Arabia, then back to Yemen, before fleeing from the Houthis when they took over Sanaa in 2014. The charismatic preacher, known as the “provocative cleric with the flaming red beard”, moved from Saudi Arabia to Türkiye in 2020 where he passed away.