The Wisdom behind reciting the Quran out loud in Salah, and silently
[Hassan Ilyas] Ghamidi Saab, please tell us,
people frequently have this question in mind
that the Salah we offer
everyone understands the truth of Salah
but among the practices of Salah
some prayers are recited loudly
whereas some are offered silently
so the recitation in Salah
during jama'ah (congregational prayer)
this difference between jahri (loud) and sirri (silent) prayers
is there any reason or wisdom behind it?
and do address the question of principle
that by getting into these things
do we even have access to such a point of view
from where we can decide
the purpose of these things?
[Javed Ahmed Ghamidi] No, there is no issue in talking about this
It is obvious that anything that Allah ta'la or Allah's messenger has said
it is based on wisdom
but some aspects of this wisdom are rational
some aspects are logical
some aspects are sensory,
and some aspects are related to taste.
So this is an aesthetic aspect
that is, usually for a poetic symposium
or for a musical gathering
or if a thing of beauty is under discussion
then for that night-time is preferred
because the Zuhr and 'Asr prayers take place during the height of the day
you are at business or at your job
and you have to run to your work
so in this case, the recitation is supposed to be done silently
because night-time is the time of rest
and in a way, it is a time of quietness
and only during that time if something is read in a good voice
then you listen as well as take pleasure from it,
therefore, in favor of this aesthetic aspect
the recitation of all the prayers during night-time is supposed to be loud
however, when prayers of congregational nature take place at a grand scale
because people come there specially, after taking out time
and they come with the motive to take part in a congregational prayer
and they have to listen to the sermons and speeches,
then during juma'ah and the Eids,
prayers have to be recited aloud
so it is done by virtue of this aesthetic aspect.