Prayer: What is the ruling on jahr (loud) letters in silent prayers like ẓuhr and ʿaṣr?
Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei
Prayer: What is the ruling on jahr (loud) letters in silent prayers like ẓuhr and ʿaṣr?
English:
Question #470:
According to Imam Khomeini (q.) the criterion for reciting quietly in the noon and afternoon prayers is avoidance of jahr [loud] recitation. Given that all Arabic letters, except ten of them, are jahr letters, if we have to pray the noon and the afternoon with quiet recitation, then what will happen to the eighteen jahr letters? Please explain the rule.
Answer #470:
The criterion in ikhfāt [quiet recitation] is not to forsake the voice’s substance but to avoid expressing it; in contrast to jahr which means expression of the voice’s substance1.
-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Prayer
‘Jahr’ has two meanings. What is mentioned here is jahr in talking/recitation, while as far as jahr letters are concerned, it is equal to the word ‘voice’ in phonetics, i.e. a sound produced by vibration of the vocal cords, used in the pronunciation of vowels and certain consonants.