Is it better to read the Koran aloud, quietly or silently?

QUESTION:

Ustadz…
Permission to ask.
Which is more afdhol to read/tilawah Al-Quran in the mosque in a soft voice or loudly in the mosque, while in the mosque there are still people doing dhikr?
Can reading silently be categorized as recitation?
What are the boundaries between soft and loud sounds?

ANSWER

Reading the Koran both loudly and slowly, both are permissible in their respective conditions.

Abu Qatadah said:

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, went out one evening and saw Abu Bakr, may God be pleased with him, prayed, lowering his voice. He said, “He passed Umar bin Al-Khattab, while he was praying, raising his voice, saying: When they met the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, he said, “O Abu Bakr, I passed you while you were praying.” You lowered your voice. He said, “I have heard who you are talking to, O Messenger of Allah.” He said, “I passed you while you were praying.” He said, “O Messenger of Allah.” He said, “O Messenger of Allah.” May God awaken the tongue and cast out the devil.

One night, the Prophet ﷺ went out, and he found Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, who was praying with his voice lowered. Abu Qatadah said, “And he also met Umar bin Khattab who was praying with his voice raised.” Abu Qatadah continued, “When the two of them gathered before the Prophet ﷺ, he said to Abu Bakr, “I visited you while you were praying by lowering my voice.” Abu Bakr answered, “My voice is only enough to be heard (by Allah) where I pray, O Messenger of Allah.” Abu Qatadah said, “Then he said to Umar, “As you raise your voice.” Umar said, “O Messenger of Allah, so that I can wake up sleeping people and drive out demons.”
(HR. Abu Daud no. 1329, authentic)

Aisyah Radhiyallahu ‘Anha narrated:

A man wakes up at night and recites the Koran by raising his voice. When morning arrived, Rasulullah SAW said, “May God forgive this person like other people.” A verse

That a man was praying at night, *then read the Koran with his voice raised,* the next day, Rasulullah ﷺ said, “May Allah have mercy on so and so, he has reminded me of a verse of the Koran that I forgot.”
(HR. Abu Daud no. 1331, authentic)

These two hadiths show that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted and even praised raising one’s voice when reading the Koran, if it brought benefits such as reminding people, encouraging people, driving away demons, and awakening people for worship. As long as it is done safely from riya’, and ‘ujub.

However, we find in another hadith, Abu Said Radhiallahu ‘Anhu said:

Rasulullah SAW isolated himself in the mosque and listened to them reading aloud, then he removed his veil and said, “Indeed, each of you is communicating with his Lord, so do not disturb each other, and do not exalt each other in reading or praying.

Once when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was performing Itikaf in the mosque, then he heard his companions loudly reciting (the Qur’an), then he opened the curtain and said: “Know that each of you is praying to Allah, therefore do not let some of you disturb the others and do not raise each other’s voices in reading (the Qur’an) or in prayer.”
(HR. Abu Daud no. 1332, authentic)

In this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ actually forbade raising your voice if it disturbed other people who were praying. Sometimes there are also those who read the Koran in the mosque in the middle of studying or teaching. So, things like this are prohibited.

Imam An Nawawi said:

As for the authoritative chronicles of his companions and followers, of his words and deeds are too numerous to mention, and too famous to mention, and they are all about a man who was not afraid of hypocrisy, arrogance, or similar vices, and did not harm a group by distorting his prayers and confusing them with them.

As for the traces of the companions and tabi’in, both in terms of their words and deeds, they are more numerous than can be counted, and more famous than needs to be mentioned one by one. All of this applies to people who are not worried about being exposed to riya’, nor are they affected by these evils, and do not (raise their voices to the point of) disturbing other congregations so as to make their prayers chaotic and confusing.

(At Tibyan fi Adab Hamalatil Quran, p. 60)

Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq Rahimahullah said:

It is forbidden to raise your voice which could disturb the congregation, even if you are reading the Koran. The exception to this is science lessons

“It is forbidden to raise your voice (in the mosque) so that it disturbs the congregation who are praying, even if what is being read is the Koran, except for those who are in the process of learning and teaching the Koran.” (Fiqhus Sunnah, 1/251)¹

So, the conclusion:

– Reading the Koran can be loud or slow
– Both were done by the Prophet ﷺ
– Selected according to the benefit of the heart, surrounding conditions, solemnity, and not disturbing other people

As for reading silently, it is not recitation, it is more accurately called contemplation (tafakur, tadabur). So, the tahrikul should be verbal (verbal movements) when reading it, except for people who are sick and cannot move their mouths.

Imam Ibn Al Hajib said:

It is not permissible to reveal secrets without a movement of the tongue. Because if he does not move his tongue, he is not reading, but thinking.

And it should not be (called) reading slowly without moving your mouth; because if he doesn’t move his mouth, it means he’s not reading, but just thinking.

(Mawahib Al Jalil, 1/317)

Thus. Wallahu A’lam.