Sunan an-Nasa'i 1011

Ahmad ibn Maniʿ and Yaʿqub ibn Ibrahim al-Dawraqi informed us: Hushaym narrated to us: Abu Bishr, Jaʿfar ibn Abi Wahshiyyah (who is Ibn Iyas), narrated to us, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas, concerning the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: “Do not recite your prayer aloud, nor recite it silently.” He said: “It was revealed while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was in hiding in Mecca. When he led his companions in prayer, he would raise his voice”—Ibn Maniʿ said, “he would recite the Qur’an aloud”—“and when the polytheists heard his voice, they would insult the Qur’an, the One who sent it down, and the one who brought it. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said to His Prophet: ‘Do not recite your prayer aloud,’ that is, your recitation, lest the polytheists hear and insult the Qur’an; ‘nor recite it silently,’ away from your companions so that they cannot hear; ‘but seek a way between that.’”