~c. 614 CE
The Quraysh tried to ban the public recitation of the Qur'an: whenever the Prophet ﷺ recited it in front of the Ka'bah, they would shout, make noise, and curse the One who revealed it and the one upon whom it was revealed, so that anyone wishing to listen had to pretend not to be listening. Because of this, the Prophet ﷺ would try to raise his own voice above theirs, until Allah revealed [Quran, 17:110] instructing him to recite in a moderate voice between the two extremes. Some time later, the Companions gathered in Dar al-Arqam and asked who among them would step forward to recite the Qur'an publicly for the first time. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud volunteered, though the others objected that (being of Yemeni origin and without a protecting tribe in Makkah) he had no one to shield him from the Quraysh. He went anyway, stood at the Maqam of Ibrahim, and began reciting Surah al-Rahman in a loud, beautiful voice. People gathered to listen, mesmerized, until one of them realized it was what Muhammad ﷺ claimed had been revealed to him: at which point the crowd set upon Ibn Mas'ud and beat him until he could not finish reciting, having managed barely two pages.
The first public recitation of the Qur'an in Makkah, and the first known instance of a Companion being beaten specifically for reciting it, a marker of how seriously the Quraysh regarded the threat of the Qur'an being heard.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Wallahi, after today, nothing has increased other than my contempt for the Quraysh: I am willing to do this again tomorrow.
Said after he returned bloodied and bruised from reciting Surah al-Rahman aloud at the Ka'bah, where the Quraysh had beaten him until he could not continue.
I will do it. I put my trust in Allah: Allah will protect me.
Said when the Companions gathered in Dar al-Arqam and asked who would step forward to recite the Qur'an publicly for the first time, since no one but the Prophet ﷺ had done so and Ibn Mas'ud, having no tribe in Makkah, had no protection if the Quraysh reacted.
وَلَا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَلَا تُخَافِتْ بِهَا وَابْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا
“Do not say it loudly, nor in a whisper, but say it in a moderate voice.”
This ayah's instruction to recite in a moderate voice -- neither loud nor a whisper -- reflects the tension this event describes, when the Quraysh tried to drown out public Qur'an recitation.