(And when the Qur’an is recited, give ear to it and pay heed…) [7:204].
Abu Mansur al-Mansuri informed us> ‘Ali ibn ‘Umar al-Hafiz> ‘Abd Allah ibn Sulayman al-Ash‘ath> al-‘Abbas ibn al-Walid ibn Mizyad> his father> al-Awza‘i> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amir> Zayd ibn Aslam> his father> Abu Hurayrah who said regarding this verse (And when the Qur’an is recited…): “This was revealed about raising voices while in prayer behind the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace”.
Said Qatadah: “When the prayer was first obligated, people used to speak during their prayers. A man would come and shout to his friend: ‘How many units of prayers have you performed?’ and his friend would respond: ‘such-and-such’ [while he is still in his prayer]. And so this verse was revealed”.
Al-Zuhri said: “This was revealed about a youth from among the Helpers. Whenever the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, recited something from the Qur’an, this youth joined him in the recitation”.
Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Once, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, read aloud during a prescribed prayer and his Companions read behind him with raised voices which made him stumble in his reading, and so this verse was revealed”.
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, Mujahid, ‘Ata’, ‘Amr ibn Dinar and other commentators of the Qur’an are of the opinion that this verse was revealed about listening to the prayer leader upon giving the sermon of the Friday prayer.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou