Raad Muhammad Al-Kurdi is from Kirkuk, Iraq. Raad began memorizing the Qur’an at a young age and won many recitation competitions as a child. He obtained a traditional license in recitation from Sheikh Ibrahim bin Fadel Al-Mashhadani. At the age of 15 he became the imam of Imam al-Shafi’i Mosque in Kirkuk. Since gathering a following of over 3.5 million subscribers on YouTube, he has become a visiting imam at Al-Kharafi mosques in Sulaibikhat, Kuwait and often leads prayers during Ramadan at the Ahmad Al-Habbai Mosque in Dubai, UAE.