['Aalim Network QR] Silent/Loud recitation of Namaaz

[Mustafa Rawji <mrawji@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salaamun alaykum,

	The reply to the following question was kindly provided by Shaykh
Rasheed.   

Wasalaam,

Mustafa Rawji
Moderator, 'Aalim Network

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QUESTION:
 
What is the reason behind the fact that Subh, Maghrib, Isha & Friday Zohr
prayers are recited in a loud voice, while Zohr of all other days and Asr
are recited in a soft voice?
 

ANSWER:

Many rules of the Shari'ah are not completely explained with regards to
their reasons. However, I have found the following narration from Shaikh
Sadooq which can shed some light on the reason behind this issue: 

On the authority of Muhammad Ibn Hamzah, he states: "I said to Abu
Abdillah (Imam As-Saadiq, peace be upon him): 'For what reason do we
recite loudly in Salatul-Fajr, Maghrib and 'Ishaa and the remaining
prayers like Zuhr and 'Asr we do not recite loudly in them?'

'...He said (Imam As-Saadiq, peace be upon him): 'Because when the Prophet
(prayers and peace be upon him and his family) made his journey to heaven,
the first prayer Allah made obligatory upon him was Salatuz-Zuhr on
Friday. Allah made the angels join behind him in prayer and Allah, the
Almight and Glorious, commanded his Prophet to perform the recitation
loudly in order to make it clear for them his (the Prophet's) 
superiority. Then, he made 'Asr obligatory but none of the angels were
made to join him and Allah commanded him to recite softly because no one
was behind him. Then, Maghrib was made obligatory and the angels were made
to join him and he was commanded to recite loudly, and, likewise, was
'Ishaa (the final prayer).'

'When (the time of) Fajr drew near, Allah made the Fajr prayer
obligatory for him and commanded him to recite in it loudly in order to
clarify to people his superiority just as he had made it clear to the
angels. This is the reason of reciting loudly in prayer.'" 
('Ilal Ash-Sharaa`i' by Shaikh As-Sadooq, vol.2, pg. 322)

I hope this gives you some insight into the answer.

Was Salaam.

Ali Rasheed