Reciting aloud or quietly in voluntary prayer

The jurists agree that reciting aloud is a sunnah in the prayers of the 2 Eids, the prayer for rain, the Tarawih and the lunar eclipse. They differed over the solar eclipse: should one recite quietly or aloud? The 3 imams, Abu Hanifah, Malik and al-Shafi'i, held that quiet recitation in it is a sunnah; while Imam Ahmad, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad of the Hanafis, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn al-Mundhir and other hadith scholars of the Shafi'is, and Ibn al-'Arabi of the Malikis, held that reciting aloud in it is a sunnah (Fath al-Bari, 2/550; Umdat al-Qari, 6/33; Nayl al-Awtar, 4/22; Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 3/120).

As for the unrestricted voluntary prayers of the day, as well as the rawatib sunnahs, quiet recitation in them is a sunnah without disagreement (Umdat al-Qari, 6/33; Majma' al-Anhur, 1/100; al-Fawakih al-Dawani, 1/200; al-Mawaqib in the margin of al-Khattab, 2/68; al-Sharh al-Kabir, 1/313; al-Zarqani, 1/281; al-Majmu', 3/345; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/344, 440; Matalib Awli al-Nuha, 1/575).

As for the voluntary prayers of the night, the Malikis and al-Tahawi, the author of al-Tatimmah among the Shafi'is, hold that reciting aloud in them is a sunnah (al-Fawakih al-Dawani, 1/200; al-Zarqani, 1/281; al-Majmu', 3/345; al-Rawdah, 1/341). Al-Qadi Husayn and the author of al-Tahdhib among the Shafi'is said: one takes the middle course between aloud and quiet; this is if one does not disturb a sleeper or a worshipper, or the like; otherwise the sunnah is quiet recitation (al-Majmu', 3/345; Rawdat al-Talibin, 1/248; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/162).

The Hanafis said: the one praying voluntarily alone chooses between reciting aloud and quietly in the night nafl, for the voluntary prayers follow the obligatory ones, whose numbers they complete; one is therefore free in them as one is free in the obligatory prayers. If he is an imam, he recites aloud, for the reason mentioned of following the obligatory prayers; this is why he recites quietly in the day voluntary prayers, even if he is an imam. They then differed over the definition of reciting aloud and quietly: al-Hinduwani said: reciting aloud is that another person hears him; mukhafatah is that he hears himself. Al-Karkhi said: reciting aloud is that he hears himself articulating the letters correctly, for recitation is the act of the tongue, not of the ear.

Al-Zayla'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the first is more correct, for the mere movement of the tongue without sound is not called recitation (Majma' al-Anhur, 2/156; Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, 1/127).

The Hanbalis said: the one who prays voluntarily at night considers the interest at stake: if reciting aloud makes him more active in his recitation, or if someone near him listens to his recitation or benefits from it, reciting aloud is better, because of the benefits that follow; if someone near him is performing tahajjud or is disturbed by the raising of his voice, a sleeper or otherwise, or if he fears showing off, quiet recitation is better, to ward off that harm (Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/344, 445; Matalib Awli al-Nuha, 1/575).