and in its chain appears Ayyub ibn Jabir, who is weak. Ibn Nasr (p. 53) likewise transmitted—through Zayd ibn Yuthayʿ—who said: “When Abu Bakr recited, he would lower his voice…,” a report of similar purport. All the narrators are trustworthy, yet the wording suggests it is mursal, for Zayd does not state from which Companion he heard it; he may, however, have taken it directly from Abu Bakr, for he is known to narrate from him. Abu Dawud also recorded the hadith from Abu Hurayrah, and its isnad is hasan. Al-ʿIraqi (1/158) graded it “sahih,” but that is incorrect, for it rests on Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, whose retention has been questioned; the report is therefore hasan. Ibn al-ʿArabi remarks in ʿAridat al-Ahwadhi: “Scholars have differed over which state is superior: private communion with the Lord, or audible recitation, the latter bringing increased reward by reminding the heedless and driving away the enemy. The Prophet’s ﷺ ruling is the fairest testimony: he did not change Abu Bakr’s practice, nor ʿUmar’s. To the first he said, ‘Raise your voice a little,’ so that those who hear you may follow, and to ʿUmar, ‘Lower your voice,’ lest you disturb one who needs sleep. This applied to Abu Bakr because his sincerity was beyond doubt, he was safe from ostentation, and truthful in saying, ‘I have made the One I address hear me.’ For others, reciting softly is better, for it is closer to ikhlas (sincerity) and safer from spiritual maladies. It has also been authentically reported from ʿAishah in the Sahih…"