Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti was born in Kuwait in either 1965 or 1966.[citation needed] At one point, he was an imam in the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.[1] He became affiliated with the Al-Qaeda jihadist group and a member of their Islamic study committee,[1] eventually joining the top tier of leaders.[citation needed] His primary work in Al Qaeda was in developing the group’s ideology and training its members.[5] Since the death of Abu Yahya al Libi earlier in 2012, Abu-Zaid was regarded as Al Qaeda's top religious scholar, appearing in many videos teaching Islam.[1][6][5]