(Say (unto mankind): Cry unto Allah, or cry unto the Beneficent…) [17:110]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “One night in Mecca, The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stood up for the night vigil prayer. He kept saying in his prostration: ‘O Beneficent, O Merciful!’ And so the idolaters said: ‘Muhammad used to call unto one Allah; now he is calling unto two gods: Allah and the Beneficent. We do not know of anyone by the name of the Beneficent except the beneficent of al-Yamamah (meaning Musaylimah the liar)’, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Said Maymun ibn Mihran: “At the beginning of revelation, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give peace, used to write ‘In Thy name, O Allah’ until this verse was revealed (Lo! It is from Solomon, and lo, it is: In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful) [27:30], after which he always wrote ‘In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful’. The Arab idolaters then commented: ‘We know this Merciful but who is the Beneficent?’ As a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Said al-Dahhak: “The people of the Book said to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace: ‘You mention very little the Beneficent and yet Allah mentions this name in the Torah in abundance’. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse as a response to them”. (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein, but follow a way between) [17:110]. Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muti‘ and Ahmad ibn Mani‘> Hushaym> Abu Bishr> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas who said regarding the words of Allah, exalted is He (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein…): “This verse was revealed while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was in hiding in Mecca. Whenever the unbelievers heard the Qur’an being recited, they reviled it and reviled the person who had brought it. Hence, Allah, glorious and majestic is He, said to His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace (And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship) i.e. upon reciting the Qur’an in prayer, lest the idolaters hear it and revile the Qur’an, (nor yet silent therein) such that your Companions do not hear you, (but follow a way between)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
