Part 1 · Pages 313-314
Abu Jahl Mocks the Messenger and Deters Listeners
English rendering of the source section
Local English translation from the Arabic text; Qur’anic citations and editorial explanations are distinguished.
This local English rendering may condense the Arabic narration and editorial notes. It is not a complete published English edition. Consult the Arabic source for exact wording and context.
Read the corresponding Arabic sectionAbu Jahl mocked the report that nineteen angels guard the Fire, asking whether each hundred Quraysh men could not defeat one. Quraysh dispersed whenever the Messenger recited aloud in prayer. Anyone who wished to listen did so secretly, fearing the others’ harm.
Ibn ‘Abbas said that “Do not recite your prayer too loudly or too quietly, but seek a way between” (17:110) was revealed concerning those listeners: the Messenger should not recite so loudly that Quraysh dispersed, nor so quietly that a person hoping to hear could not benefit. The account then begins the next section, naming ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud as the first to recite the Qur’an aloud in Makkah after the Messenger.