Investigating the Instruction to the Audience to Remain Silent and Listen when the Quran is Recited

Verse 204 of Surah al-Aʿraf instructs the audience of Qurʾānic recitation to remain silent and listen to the recitation. This verse has been studied in many exegetical and jurisprudential works and different opinions regarding it have been presented, including the requirement of silence and audition in prayer and outside prayer, its being obligatory in congregational prayers and recommended in prayers offered alone, or the necessity of maintaining silence while the Qurʾān is being revealed. Of course, some exegetes have also interpreted the instruction to listen as a metaphor for acting upon the verses of the Qurʾān. In order to make the case for it being obligatory to listen and remain silent, the apparent meaning of the aforementioned verse as well as verse 21 of Surah al-Inshiqāq and some traditions [of the infallibles] have been used, and to make the case for it not being obligatory, reference is made to consensus among scholars, traditions, and the phrase “maybe you will receive [Allāh’s] mercy” (laʿallakum turḥamūn) at the end of the
aforementioned verse. This paper, after examining the proof presented by both sides using the method of exegetical and jurisprudential analysis, concludes that the requirement for silence and audition applies both in prayer and outside prayer.