Question :
Someone was offering the Sunnah of Maghrib prayer, a man came and followed him to perform the obligatory prayer; should the one leading prayer (Imam) recite loudly or not ?
The Answer :
Praise be to Allah, prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad and upon all His Family and Companions: There is a consensus among Muslim jurists(Foqaha) that the Sunnah prayers (Rawatib) are not to be offered with loud recitation. If the person performing obligatory prayer(Fard) follows the lead of the one offering supererogatory (Sunnah) prayer , based on the opinion of Muslim jurists who permit that ,then the latter must complete his prayer as usual with maintaining low recitation , except for Takbeer (saying Allaahu Akbar) ,which indicates moving e.g. from bowing(Rukoo) to prostrating (Sujood)…..etc, and this he raises his voice so that the other person may follow . Imam Al-Nawawi (May Allah have mercy on his soul) said: " Ar-Rawatib (Supererogatory prayers before or after the obligatory prayers)are not to be performed with loud recitation.””Al-Majmoo”(3/391).And Allah knows best.