Allah says:

[وَلاَ تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِكَ]

(And offer your Salah neither aloud) Imam Ahmad reported that Ibn `Abbas said: "This Ayah was revealed when the Messenger of Allah was preaching underground in Makkah.''

[وَلاَ تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِكَ وَلاَ تُخَافِتْ بِهَا]

(And offer your Salah neither aloud nor in a low voice,) Ibn `Abbas said: "When he prayed with his Companions, he would recite Qur'an loudly, and when the idolators heard that, they insulted the Qur'an, and the One Who had revealed it and the one who had brought it. So Allah said to His Prophet :

[وَلاَ تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِكَ]

(And offer your Salah (prayer) neither aloud) means, do not recite it aloud, lest the idolators hear you and insult the Qur'an,

[وَلاَ تُخَافِتْ بِهَا]

(nor in a low voice,) means, nor recite it so quietly that your companions cannot hear the Qur'an and learn it from you.

[وَابْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلاً]

(but follow a way between. )'' This was also reported in the Two Sahihs. Ad-Dahhak also narrated something similar from Ibn `Abbas, and added: "When he migrated to Al-Madinah, this no longer applied, and he recited as he wished.'' Muhammad bin Ishaq said that Ibn `Abbas said, "When the Messenger of Allah recited Qur'an quietly while he was praying, the (idolators) would disperse and refuse to listen to him; if one of them wanted to hear some of what he was reciting in his prayer, he would try to listen without anyone seeing him, because he was afraid of them. If he realized that anybody knew he was listening, he would go away lest they harm him, so he would stop listening. If the Prophet lowered his voice, those who wanted to listen to his recitation could not hear anything, so Allah revealed,

[وَلاَ تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِكَ]

(And offer your Salah neither aloud) meaning, do not recite aloud, lest those who want to listen disperse for fear of attracting unwelcome attention,

[وَلاَ تُخَافِتْ بِهَا]

(nor in a low voice,) but do not make your voice so soft that the one who is trying to listen without being seen cannot hear anything at all. Perhaps he will pay attention to some of what he hears and benefit from it.

[وَابْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلاً]

(but follow a way between. )'' This was the view of `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Qatadah that this Ayah was revealed concerning recitation in prayer. It was narrated from Ibn Mas`ud: "Do not make it so soft that no one can hear it except yourself.''