Chapter: The manner of reciting the Book of Allah Most High, what is disliked and what is forbidden, and the divergence of scholarly views on the matter

Al-Bukhārī relates from Qatādah who said: I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he replied, “He would draw out the recitation at length: when he recited ‘In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful,’ he prolonged ‘In the name of Allah,’ and he prolonged ‘the All-Merciful,’ and he prolonged ‘the Ever-Merciful.’”

Al-Tirmidhī narrates from Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to separate his verses; he would say, ‘All praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds,’ then pause; ‘the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful,’ then pause; and he would recite, ‘Master of the Day of Judgment.’” He (al-Tirmidhī) commented, “This ḥadīth is gharīb,” and Abū Dāwūd transmitted it in a similar wording.

It is reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The most beautiful voice among people is the one who, when he recites, you behold him fearing Allah, exalted is He.”

It is related that Ziyād al-Nuʿmayrī came with a group of reciters to Anas ibn Mālik. He was asked to recite, so he raised his voice and sang with melodic intonation; he had a naturally loud voice. At that Anas lifted the cloth—a black piece of fabric—that covered his face and said, “My good man, this is not how they used to do it!” Whenever he saw something he disapproved of, he would uncover his face.

It is narrated from Qays ibn ʿAbādah that he said: “The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ disliked raising the voice when making dhikr.”

Among those from whom disapproval of raising the voice during Qur’an recitation has been transmitted are Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, al-Ḥasan, Ibn Sīrīn, al-Nakhaʿī and others. Mālik ibn Anas and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal likewise regarded it as disliked; all of them disapproved of loud recitation and of chanting the Qur’an with musical embellishment.

It is reported that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib heard ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz leading the people in prayer and adorning his recitation with melody. Saʿīd sent him a message saying, “May Allah set your affairs aright! The imams do not recite in this manner.” Thereafter ʿUmar abandoned melodic intonation.

It is narrated from al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad that a man recited in the Prophet’s Mosque ﷺ with melodic embellishment. Al-Qāsim objected and recited, “Indeed, it is a mighty Book; falsehood cannot approach it, neither from before it nor from behind it” (Qur’an 41:41–42).

It is related that Mālik was asked about nabr—vibrato—in Qur’an recitation during prayer; he repudiated it and deemed it strongly reprehensible, and he likewise objected to raising one’s voice in recitation.

And Ibn al-Qāsim relates from him that he was asked about melodic rendition (al-aḥān) in the prayer