-VOLUME 2- · 178 – THE PROHIBITION OF SPEAKING DURING PRAYER
949 – It is narrated from Zayd ibn Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We used to speak with the person next to us during prayer. When the verse, “Stand before Allah with devotion” (al-Baqara, 238) was revealed, we were commanded to observe silence and forbidden from speaking. [66]
EXPLANATION
This noble hadith indicates that speaking during prayer is forbidden (haram). There is a difference of opinion as to whether this prohibition was established in Mecca or Medina. Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) was present in both groups of emigrants who went to Abyssinia. The incident in which, upon returning from Abyssinia, he greeted the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) during prayer and the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) did not respond verbally, appears more likely to have occurred during his first return from Abyssinia to Mecca; in that case, the prohibition of speaking during prayer would have been established in Mecca. However, since the verse forbidding speech during prayer was revealed in Medina, there are also those who hold the view that the incident took place in Medina, during Ibn Mas‘ūd’s second return from Abyssinia. (Bazl al-Majhūd, vol. 5, pp. 204–256)