Sheikh Abdulbari Al-Thubaity عبدالباري الثبيتي

Sheikh Abdulbari Al-Thubaity (b. 1380 AH / 1960–61, Makkah) is a Saudi Quran reciter and one of the longest-serving imams and khatibs of Masjid an-Nabawi in Madinah, a post he has held since 1993. He holds a PhD in Islamic jurisprudence from the Islamic University of Madinah.

Abdulbari Al-Thubaity memorised the Quran at an early age in Makkah and in 1969 enrolled at the Dar Al-Arqam institute at the Grand Mosque, beginning to teach the Quran to other pupils at the age of nine. At fifteen he was appointed imam of a mosque in Makkah, and in 1977 he went to the United Kingdom on a scholarship from Makkah's Quran memorisation association, where he led Tarawih prayers at an Islamic centre at seventeen. In 1979 he took first place in the international Quran memorisation and recitation competition held in Makkah.

He earned a bachelor of science from King Abdulaziz University in 1984, a higher diploma (1989) and a master's degree (1994) in Islamic law from Umm Al-Qura University, and his doctorate in jurisprudence from the Islamic University of Madinah in 2001. In 1990 he was appointed to lead Tarawih and Qiyam prayers at Masjid al-Haram, and he worked in education in Jeddah, becoming a school principal in 1992. After his doctorate he was appointed associate professor at the Institute of Imams and Preachers at Taibah University.

Three things tend to place Abdulbari's voice: the measured Haramain style familiar from Makkah and Madinah broadcasts; careful, textbook articulation, which is why students are often pointed to him; and a deep, weighty register that carries in a large hall. That is our own listening note to help you place the voice, not a sourced biographical claim.