Question :
What’s the ruling on reciting loud some verses of surah fatiah or a verse from it in salaatul dhur and asr?
Answer :
Al-Imam al-Bukhari stated in his Saheeh
Chapter: If the Imam Makes Heard an Ayah
He then mentioned hadeeth number (778) and afterwards his chain of narration to Abu Qatada may Allah be pleased with him who said:
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam use to recite the mother of the book (al-Fatiha) and another surah with it in first two rakaat (units of prayer) of the Dhur prayer and the Asr prayer, AND HE WOULD MAKE US HEAR AN AYAH OCASSIONALLY. And he use to lengthen the first raka’h.
The people of knowledge have differed as to why the Messenger -sallahu alahi wa salam- occasionally raised his voice in reciting some ayaat in these prayers.
Ibn Rajab mentions in Fath al-Baari (7/86):
What is apparent is that he use to do this ( i.e. raise his voice) intentionally, and it could be that his action (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) was to inform them (i.e. The Companions) that he was reciting (Qur’aan) in Dhur and Asr seeing as some of them became doubtful with regard to this.
It may (also) be that his action was to teach them this specific surah as this was reported from Anas and others.
Or it may be to clarify the permissibility of reciting aloud in the recitation of daytime (i.e. Dhur and Asr) and that the prayer does not become invalid due to this…
Thus we benefit from this the legislation of the Imam occasionally raising his voice with an ayah in Dhur and Asr prayer which can be counted from the abandoned sunnah of noble Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in this time. We ask Allah the Most High to aid us in implementing it and others.
As a final note the hadeeth was also reported by Muslim (451) in his Saheeh.
Answered by : Noble brother Abu ‘Atiyah Mahmood as-Somali