Imam Yahya was born in Oklahoma City, USA and accepted Islam in 1998. In 2005 he was recruited by the Islam Presentation Committee in Kuwait to work as the head of the English Da’wa Department. While in Kuwait, he attained a diploma from the institute for Islamic Studies. In 2008 he finished his memorisation of the Qur’an and attained an Ijazah that puts his name on a list of 29 other people who are in the chain of narration of the Qur’an based on memorisation and recitation of the Qur’an by Hafs.