ahkam-basmallah

7/31/2019 Ahkam-Basmallah

1/34

2007 Maktabah Imaam Badee ud deen & MaktabahAshaabul Hadeeth

Ahkaam al-Basmallah Allaamah Badee ud deen Sindhee

RulingsConcerning

Bismillah

By

al-Allaamahal-Muhaddith ash-Shaikh

Abu Muhammad Badee ud deen

Shaah ar-Raashidee as-Sindhee(d.1416H)

Translated by:Abu Fudayl & Abu Alqamah

2007 Maktabah Imaam Badee ud deen, Birmingham UK

1 http://ahlulhadeeth.wordpress.com


2/34



2007 Maktabah Ashaaul Hadeeth, Birmingham UK

Ahkaam al-Basmalah (pg.103-150)

[Translators note: This is a translation and hence an interpretation of themeaning s o f what the author originally s aid. The reade r i s s tronglya dv is ed to r ef er t o t he o ri gi na l S in dh i, U rd u a nd A ra bi c t ex ts f orreference purposes.]

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem (In the name of Allah, the Merciful, theBeneficent) is the first verse of every soorah of the Quraan (inclusive ofsoorah al-Fatihah) except soorah at-Tawbah. The strongest evidence for

this is that the Quraan we have today is in exact ly the same order (ofv er ses ) t ha t t he P ro ph et ( sa l- Al la hu -a la yhi -w as sa la m) t au gh t t hecompanions . Henceforth , the companions also wrote the Quraan andtaught others in the same order. This is also the order in which it reachedus and hence whatever is within its covers is the Speech of Allaah.

Manuscripts of the Quraan from the early t imes to the present day arepresent all over the world and in all of the copies every soorah presentthe re in long or s hort s tart s with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem ,except soorah at -Tawbah. This evidence is def init ive and as such has

nothing opposing it , there is no mutawatir report nor has anyone heardor observed anything to the contrary. By Allaahs arrangement of affairsthe Quraan has remained preserved in the chests (of men) and booksthe re fore the rec itat ion o f the Q uraan in this way , g enerat ion aftergenerat ion is i t se l f an evidence for the assert ion that the Quraan wasrevealed in this manner i .e . with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at thestart of every soorah. No man of understanding and justice will have theaudacity to deny this reality. This was the second evidence for our claim.

The third evidence for this is the narration of Zayd Bin Thabit present in

Sunan Kubraa of Bayhaqi in which it is mentioned that he wrote a copy ofthe Quraan on the orders of the first caliph, Abu Bakr Siddique. The basisof al l copies writ ten af terwards was this manuscr ipt and in al l copieswri tt en s ubse quently e ve ry s oorah (exce pt At-Tawbah) s tart s withBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem w hi ch i s e vi den ce f or t he o ri gi na lmanuscript being written in a s imilar manner. And this manuscript waswritten after hearing the Quraan from the students of the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) which means that the Prophet himself taughtand instructed his students to write in this way and hence this is alsohow the Quraan was revealed.



3/34



Imam Bayhaqi in his Sunan Kubraa (2/40) has brought theaforementioned hadeeth of Zayd Bin Thabit under the following heading:

The chapter for the evidence that all of what was inthe different mushafs (copies of the Quraan) of thecompanions was indeed the Quraan and Bismillah ar-

Rahmaan ar-Raheem i s a t t he b eg in ni ng of e ve rysoorah except at-Tawbah.

The fourth e vide nce i s a had ee th narrate d by Abd ul lah ibn Abbaas(Radhiallaahu Anhuma) in Musannaf Ibn Abee Shaybah, Musnad Ahmad,Abu Dawood, T irmidhee , Nas aa e e, Kitaab u l-Masaahif o f Ibn Abe eDawood, Ibn al -Mundhir , an-Naasikh wal Mansookh of Ibn Nahaas,

Saheeh Ibn Hib baan, Abush Shaykh, Mustadrak Haakim, IbnMardawiyyah and Dalail an-Nabuwwah of Bayhaqee.

Sayyidna Abdullah Bin Abbaas states that I asked Sayyidna Uthmaan binAffaan,

Why did you not write Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheembetween Soorah a l -Anfaal and Soorah a t-Tawbah? Hereplied, When the Quraan was being revealed the Prophet(sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to te l l us to jo in suchand such verse to such and such place, however, he gave no

s uch ins tr uc ti ons with r es pe ct t o the se two s oo rahs .Because bo th soorahs are very s imi lar in r egards to thetop ic they dea l with , I wrote these toge ther and d id notwrite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem between them.

Imaam Tirmidhee grades this hadeeth in Jami Tirmidhee (2/135) to behasan and Imam Haakim in his Mustadrak (2/221) grades it as saheehaccording to the condit ions of Bukhaaree and Muslim. Imam Dhahabeeagreed with them in Talkhees.

This hadeeth proves the companions wrote Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at the beginning of every soorah according to the instructions ofthe Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam), however, the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) gave no such instructions in regards to Soorahat-Tawbah. After such a detailed explanation there is no room for anyobjection.

It is written in the famous tafseer of Baydaawee at beginning on (pg. 2):

There is an i jmaa (consensus) that everything within the

two covers i s the Speech o f Al laah the g lor ious . They areagreed to what is establ ished in the mushafs (copies o f the



4/34



Quraan), and they emphasised on the e f fort that nothingshould be added to the Quraan so much so that not even

Ameen should be written.

and indeed, it is not written.

I t is clear from this evidence that this verse is at the beginning of everysoorah. When this evidence was presented by the famous jurist ImaamYaala to Imaam Muhammad bin Hasan ash-Shaybaanee, the latter wentquiet. (Tafseer Kabeer of Raazee 1/197)

Imam Nawawee says in Sharh Muslim (1/127):

In the copies of the Quraan (Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem) isw ri tt en i n t he s am e s ty le as r es t o f t he Q ur aa n. A ll t hi s i sac cord in g t o t he i jmaa (con sensus) an d agree ment of t hecompanions; and they also had an ijmaa (consensus) on the issuethat nothing is to be written within a copy o f the Quraan in thestyle of the Quraan except for what is the Quraan. From the timeo f the companions to our t imes a ll agr ee tha t B is mi ll ah a r-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not at the beginning of Soorah At-Tawbahand is not to be written in a mushaf.

The se words o f Imam Nawawee g ive s trength to our ass er tion thatBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is the f irst verse of every soorah exceptsoorah at-Tawbah. This is also what Nawaab Siddeeque Hasan Khaan saidin Fath-ul-Bayaan (1/31). Imam Bayhaqee mentions in Maarifus Sunanwal Athaar (1/202):

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is a part of the Quraanand is the first verse of every soorah except at-Tawbah. Theevidence for this is that the companions wrote the Quraanw it h i mm en se m et ic ul ou sn es s a nd t oo k g re at c ar e of

ensuring that nothing other than the Quraan enters it . Ithas been narrated by several companions that they wrotethe Quraan and without any exemption, other than that ofsoorah at-Tawbah, wrote Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheemat the beginning of each soorah. And it cannot be imaginedthat the companions would add a hundred and th ir teenverses to the Quraan which are actually not a part of it.

To e lucidate the i ss ue fur ther , s ome more ahade eth and athaar arepresented here:

1 . I n S ah ee h M us li m m a a a n- Na wa we e ( 1/ 17 2) t ha t S ay yi dn a A na snarrates that:



5/34



One day the Prophet (sa l-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) wasamongst us whe n drows ines s ove rcame h im and the n

smiling he raised his face towards the sky. We asked, OhMessenger of Allah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam), whatmade you smile? He said a soorah has just been revealedto me and the n r ec it ed : Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-

Raheem. Verily, We have granted you (O Muhammad(sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam)) al-Kauthar (a river in

Paradise){1}. Therefore turn in prayer to your Lordand sacrifice (to Him only){2}. For he who makes youangry (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)), - he willbe cut off (from every good thing in this world and in

the Hereafter){3}.

This narrat ion makes it clear that every soorah starts with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem and every soorah was revealed l ike this because theProphet (sal -Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) named this whole chapter as asoorah and it contains Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at its s tart . ImamNawawee writes under this hadeeth:

This hadeeth has benefits from them is that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is at the beginning o f every soorah o f

the Quraan. Imam Muslims mention o f this hadeeth hereindicates that it was his intent to bring out this benefit.

2. In Saheeh Bukharee (2/754) Qataadah narrates:

Sayyidna Anas was asked how did the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) recite the Quraan? So he replied that theProphet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to elongate thewor ds and the n (Anas ) d emonstra te d thi s by r ec it ingBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem such that he recited the

verses e longating Bismil lah, e longating ar-Rahmaan andelongating ar-Raheem.

Through this hadeeth we can understand that every soorah of the Quraanstarts with this verse.

3. There is a hadeeth In Abu Dawood (pg. 556):

The mother of the believers Sayyida Umm Salamah said thatthe Prophet of Allaah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to

cut his recitation. Bismil lah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem, Al-Hamdul i llah i Rabbil Aal imeen, ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem,



6/34



Maaliki Yaumiddeen. meaning he used to recite each ayahseparately (pausing in between).

This narrat ion is present in Abu Ubaid, Tabaqaat Ibn Saad, Ibn AbeeShaybah , Mus nad Ahmad , Ibn Khuzaymah, Daarqutne e, Mus tadrakHaakim and Bayhaqee and others . (ad-Durr al-Manthoor (1/7). ImaamDaarqutnee has classif ied this hadeeth as saheeh and graded all of i tsnarrators to be trustworthy (Sunan Daarqutnee (1/313). This hadeeth alsomakes i t c lear that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is the f irs t verse ofevery soorah.

4. Sayyidna Ibn Abbaas narrates in Abu Dawood (pg. 115):

The Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) did not know thed i f f e r ence be tween two soorahs (such that a new one hasstarted and the other finished) till Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem was revealed to him.

Imaam Haakim has mentioned this hadeeth in his Mustadrak (1/231) withthe words:

The Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) did not know asoorah finished until Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem was

revealed.

Imam Haakim states in relation to this hadeeth that it is saheeh accordingto the conditions of Bukhaaree and Musl im. Further , Imam Dhahabeestates in his Talkhees that this hadeeth is established (saheeh). HaafidhIbn Katheer in his Tafseer (1/16) classifies the chain of this hadeeth to besaheeh.

We also find from the aforementioned hadeeth that Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem at the start of the soorahs was revealed by Allaah. And while

the Quraan was being revealed it was possible to tell the beginning of anew soorah through this verse.

5. Sayyidna Ibn Abbaas narrates in Mustadrak Haakim (1/232):

Muslims did not know the revelation of a soorah had beencompleted unti l B ismi llah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem wasrevealed. When Bismil lah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem wasrevealed they used to understand that the soorah has indeed

finished.

Imam Haakim has graded this narration as Saheeh.



7/34



6. Sayyidna Abu Hurraira narrates in Sunan Kubraa Bayhaqi (45/2):

The Prophet of Allah (sal -Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) said that SoorahA lh am du li ll ah i R ab bi l A al im ee n h as s ev en v er se s o ne o f w hi ch i sBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem a nd i t i s t hi s s oo ra h w hi ch i s S ab aMathani (seven verses which are read repeatedly) and Quraan Al-Azeemand it is this soorah which is Ummul Quraan and Fatihatul Kitaab.

With the same chain of narration as the above narration another report inSunan Kubraa Bayhaqi has been reported on the authority of Abu Hurairawith the following words:

The Prophet of Allah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) said when you reciteAl-Hamd then recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem. I t is this which isUmmul Quraan, Ummul Kitaab and Saba Mathaani and Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is a verse (among these seven verses).

After mentioning this hadith Imam Bayhaqi states that a narrator of thishad ith Nooh B in Abi B ilal s omet imes repor ts in mawqoof form i .e .narrates the saying of Abu Hurraira. He sometimes does not narrate inmarfoo form such that the saying would reach the Messenger of Allah(sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam). However, this is not a major defect becauseNooh B in Abi B i la l i s a t rus tworthy narrator as Haf id h Ibn Hajar asmentioned in Taqreeb ut Tehzeeb. Hence, a trustworthy narrator maynarrate in a hadith in both marfoo and mawqoof form, this exposes thehollowness of this deception

Secondly, even if this hadith is accepted only as mawqoof, still it comesunder the ruling of marfoo because such decis ions especial ly thoseinvolving c lass i fy ing a verse as a part of the Quraan cannot be g ivingmerely on the bas is o f i jt ihaad and opinion rathe r the y are to beu nd er st oo d a s b ei ng h ea rd f ro m t he P ro ph et ( sa l- Al la hu -a la yh i-wassalam), as this not unknown to the people who are experts in theseprinciples.

Hafidh Ibn Hajar mentions in Talkhees ul Habeer (1/233):

Even though Nooh narrated this hadith in mawqoof form, it s t i l l comesunder the rul ing of marfoo because in the matter of the quant i ty ofQuraanic verses there is no room for ijtihaad etc.

Other than the aforementioned, more narrations regarding this issue canb e s ee n i n S un an D aa rq ut ni , B ay ha qi , M us ta dr ak a nd A d- Du rr u l



8/34



Manthoor etc. Other than that, Imam Bayhaqi has mentioned reports fromSayyidna Ibn Abbaas, Sayyidna Ali Ibn Abi Taalib and Abu Hurraira.

Hafidh Ibn Katheer ment ions in his Tafseer (1/16) that the fo l lowingPious Predecessors (Salaf us Salihin) used to regard Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem as an ayah of all the soorahs of the Quraan except Soorah at-Tawbah:

Ibn Abbaas Ibn Umar Ibn Zubair Abu Hurraira Ali

Ataa Tawoos Saeed Bin Jubayr Makhoul Az-Zuhri Abdullah Bin Mubarak Ash-Shafie Ahmad Bin Hanbal Ishaaq Bin Rahwya Abu Ubaidah Bin Salam

Allaamah Abul Khair Jazree writes in Kitaabun Nashr Fil Qiraatul Ashr(1/262):

All reci ters used to s tart a l l the soorahs with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem except at-Tawbah. There is no difference of opinion regardingthis . Those scholars who oppose this have no evidence which can holdwater.

Famous Egyptian scholar Allaamah Ahmad Shaakir writes in his footnoteto Al-Muhallah (2/252):

People who consider it permissible to recite Al-Fatiha in prayer withoutBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem have no evidence to support their claim.Many of the narrations which they use as grounds for their assertion areeither weak or do not clearly support what they claim, but are such thatthey cannot be used against the evidence of those who are proponents ofreciting Bismillah. Furthermore, there is an agreement of the reciters onreciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at the beginning of Al-Fatiha.Similarly, transcripts of the original copies of the Quraan are also in theirfavour. This is such decis ive evidence which is enough to f inish off anydisagreement.



9/34



Now we will analyse some of the famous evidences used by those who donot regard the recitation of Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem as necessary.

1. The had i th on taqs e e m us s a la t in s ah ih mus l im in which i s nomention of Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem.

Answer:

Firstly: This narration does has no connection with whether Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem s hould be read or not but rathe r i t mentions thevirtues of these verses. Hence, the fact that Bismillah is not mentioned haslittle bearing on the issue at hand.

Secondly: As Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is the f irs t verse of everysoorah except At-Tawbah, it was not mentioned here. Only those verseswhich are part icular to Al-Fati tha are ment ioned. Resultantly , i t s notproper to take this as evidence.

Thirdly: Lexically, all that can be proven through this narrat ion is thatBismillahs reply is not mentioned whereas those for other verses is . Buthow does that imply that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not a verse ofthe soorah?!

Fourthly: The words of the hadith are When a person says AlhamdulillahiRabbil Aalimeen. Nowhere does it say that one should not recite Bismillah.What could mean here is that when a person reci tes up unt i l here i .e .

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Aalimeen; as Imam Nawawi has mentioned in SharhSahih Muslim (1/170) and is the general rule that where there is chanceor possibility the deduction is futile.

Fifthly: Even if this narration is accepted as evidence even then it is notclear in meaning and implicat ion, whereas those that we have broughtf or th a re a bs ol ut el y c le ar . A nd h en ce i t i s t ho se w hi ch w il l t ak eprecedence as has been ment ioned by Imam Raazi in Tafseer Kabeer(1/201).

Sixthly: Since the third verse of Al-Fatiha (Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem) hasbeen mentioned in the virtue and answer (contained in the hadith), andbecause Bismillah is the same in meaning as this verse , i t s vir tue andanswer (of Bismillah ) is included in the vir tue and answer of the thirdverse. This is what has been mentioned by Imam Ibn Saeed An-Naas inSharh Tirmidhi (1/195).



10/34



The words of the narrat ion are : Then, when he (the worshipper) says:Guid e us to the S t ra ig ht path , The path o f thos e on whom You havebestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor

of those who went astray, He (Allaah) says: This is for My servant , andMy servant will receive what he asks for.

Since the last phrase is referred to using the term (this) is for and that(this) is for is in plural which is used for at least a quantity of three,some people deduce that from Ihdinusiraatul mustaqim to the end of thesoorah constitute three verses and hence there are four verses before that which in turn implies that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not a verseof Al-Fatiha.

Such a deduct ion is weaker than a spider s web as evidence . This isbecause there is no reason to believe that (this) is for refers to threeverses , rather i t could refer to three phrases . This is especial ly l ike lybecause in Sahih Muslim maa an-Nawawi (1/170) this is my servant isused instead of (this) is for and this is used to refer to a masculinesubject whereas verses are referred to in the feminine gender and hence itcould not poss ibly re fer to verses . I f the implicat ion here would havebeen verses then this (feminine) would have been used instead of this(masculine). This is also what Imam Nawawi mentioned in Sharh Muslim(1/171).

Furthermore , Sayyidna Abu Hurraira who is a narrator of this hadithhimself considered Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem as a verse of Al-Fatiha(as has been mentioned earlier) . Hence this narrat ion cannot be used tonegate Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem as a verse of Al-Fatiha because anarrators knows what he narrates.

2. The second evidence which is usually presented is that it is statedi n a h ad it h t ha t S oo ra h A l- Mu lk a s 3 0 v er se s, i f y ou i nc lu deBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem th en t hi s a mou nts to 3 1. As aconsequence, Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem cannot be considered apart of Soorah Al-Mulk.

Reply to this is that in opposition to the clear and overwhelming proofsalready presented, to use this as evidence is unacceptable. This is becauseit is not c lear ly ment ioned in the hadith that Bismillah is not a verse .Moreover , i t is said in this hadith that Soorah Al-Mulk has 30 versesbecause it is already ingrained in everyones mind that Bismillah is at thebeginning of every soorah and hence the Prophet of Allah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) only mentioned the remaining thirty verses.



11/34



There are more evidences which wil l be covered when we discuss theissue of whether Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is to be recited loudly inprayers.

Allamaah Ibn Khaalwya writes in Airab Thalatheen Surat Min al-Quraanal-Kareem, pg.15:

Amongst the seven famous reciters, all but Abu Umar and Hamza wroteand recited Bismillah at the beginning of each soorah.

Allamaah Ahmad Shaakir wrote in his footnotes to Al-Muhallah (3/252):

The truth is that whoever is ascribed with recitat ion in which Bismillahar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem i s not read a t the beg inning o f e ve ry s oorah,w he th er t he y a re f ro m t he s ev en r ec it er s o r t en r ec it er s, t he n h isreci tat ion is not correct and is re jected. This is because in order for astyle of recitat ion to be authentically established, it needs to conformw it h t he c opy o f t he Qu ra an t ha t w as c om pi le d a t t he t im e o f t hecompanions al l scholars and reci ters agree to this . And what is a lsoknown is that the or ig inal copy of the Quraan contained Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at the beginning of every soorah except At-Tawbah.Furthermore, it is known that the companions would never add Bismillaha hundred and thirteen t imes when in fact i t was not revealed by Allah.When we give birth to such suspicions then it will amounts to openingt he doo rs f or th e en emi es o f Isl am so th at th ey m ay o bj ect. Th ecompanions mad e s ure that nothing which i s bas ed on s us picion i sincluded in the Quraan. This is the reason that the name of the soorahsand ameen were not writ ten in the same font and style as the rest of theQ uraan. Say yidna Umar h imse lf once e xp la ined on the minbar thatstoning to death is legislated in Islam and that s verse regarding this wasrevealed in the Quraan, however, i ts recitat ion has been abrogated butthe ruling still applies. And they do not write that verse in the Quraan sothat no one understands it to be an addition to the Quraan. End Quote.

Maulvi Abdul Hayy Lukhnawee ment ions in Ahkaamal Qantaraa (Al-Jamoo pg. 220):

The great pil lar of the hanafi madhab, Imam Muhammad bin Hasan ash-Shaybaani, when asked about Bismillah responded that whatever is inbetween the two covers (of the Quraan) is the Speech of Allah.

Now that it is established that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is the firstverse of every surah except At-Tawbah, as a consequence, whoever doesnot reci te the f irs t verse of Al-Fatihah then his prayer is not correctbecause it has been mentioned in detail earlier that there is no prayer



12/34



without Al-Fatihah. There is no mention of reciting half of it or a part ofit . In these circumstances it would be understood that Al-Fatihah has notbeen reci ted. I f a person does not reci te Al-Fatihah wholly, then his

rakaa is not valid.

Additionally, since Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is the f irs t verse ofevery surah except At-Tawbah, it should be recited loudly (with jahr)when reci t ing loudly (jahri qiraa) in prayers . This is because when arecitation is to be done with jahr it should be done so for all verses and toexclude a verse from this ruling is not correct . The narrat ions that havepreceded in the earlier discussion support this and therefore since this ist he v er se o f ev er y s ur ah i t w il l b e r ec it ed w it h jahr in every jahrirecitation.

Especially in the narration of the mother of the bel ievers ment ionedearlier , the method of recitat ion and elongation of Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem by the Prophet of Allah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) is veryclear. The mother of the believers knew this because the Prophet recitedBismillah with jahr otherwise she would not have known.

Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr mentions in Al-Insaaf:

The description of the method of recitation mentioned by the mother ofthe believers Umm Salamah is evidence that this is the f irst verse of Al-Fatihah and that it is to be recited with jahr.

Other than this, there are countless other ahadith which clearly show thatin jahri prayers, Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is to be recited with jahr.Due to the large number ahadith associated with this rul ing , Jalal udDeen as-Suyooti has termed them as mutawatir. As a matter of fact, he hasa famous book by the name o f Al-Izhaar ul Mutanathara fil Ahadith al

Mutawatira which is dedicated to this topic. On pg. 16 of this book, in hiscomments under hadith #31 he g ives a l is t o f approximate ly e ighteencompanions who have narrated regarding this. We will mention some ofthose narrations below:

Naeem al Mujmar narrates in Sunan an-Nasaee (pgs. 91-92):

When I prayed behind Abu Hurairah, he recited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem and completed Surah Al-Fatihah by reciting Ghairil Maghdhoob e

Alayhim Waladhaaleen and then said Ameen . And the pe ople a ls o s a idAmeen. Whenever he performed sajdah he said Allahu Akbar and when hestood from the sitting after the two (Rakah), he said Allahu Akbar. Afterhe finished his prayer he said, By Him in whose Hand is my soul, I pray



13/34



a prayer which is more in resemblance to that of the Prophet of Allah(sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) (than yours).

It is mentioned by Az-Zeylai in Nasb ur Raaya (335/2):

This hadith has been mentioned by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih (251/1),Ibn Hibbaan in h is Sahih (215/3) and by Haakim in h is Mus tadrak(232/1). Imaam Haakim states that this narration is sahih according to theconditions of Bukhaaree and Muslim. Similarly, it has been mentioned byImam Ad-Daraqutni in his Sunan that this hadith is sahih and al l i t snarrators are thiqa (trustworthy). Imam Al-Bayhaqi writes that the chainof narration o f this had ith i s s ah ih and the re are o ther e vide nces tosupport it . Moreover, he writes is Al-Khilaafyaat that the narrators thishadith are thiqah suc h tha t th ere i s a n ijmaa (consensus) on theirtrustworthiness and who are presented in sahih books as hujjah.

H af idh Ib n Sa yyi d a n- Na as i n Sh arh At- Ti rm idh i ( 18 7/ 1) , wh il eauthenticat ing this hadith, quotes Abu Bakr Khateeb al-Baghdadee assaying, This narration is authent ic and proven without any defects. Likewise, Ibn Abdil Barr proves this hadith to be sahih in Al-Insaaf andrefutes those who take evidence from the taqseem us sa laah hadith (inSahih Muslim). Rather, he asserts that this is in conflict with the taqseemus salaah hadith.

Allaamah Qaasim Ibn Qutloobagha al-Hanafi grades this hadith as sahihon pg. 177 of his checking of Usool al-Bazdawi.

This hadith is extremely c lear in i t s meaning. Abu Hurairah reci tedBismillah (loudly) which is shown by the fact that the narrator Naeem al-Mujmar heard it narrated it . Furthermore, Abu Hurairah made it clearthat his prayer is conformity with of the Prophets prayer and hence thisis the way of the Prophet.

Imam Ibn Hibbaan narrate d the above had ith in a chapter which heentitled, It is recommended for the Imam to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem loudly at the beginning of Al-Fatihah.

Imam Ibn Khuzaimah has also deduced that the recitation of Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is to be done with jahr using this hadith as evidence(125/1).

Hafidh Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaani writes after mentioning this hadith inFath ul Baaree (267/1):



14/34



Imam an-Nasaee has ent i t led the chapter in which he ment ioned thishadith as Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem should be read with jahr. Thishadith is the most authentic amongst all the ahadith which are mentioned

in this topic. The deduction of evidence that is done through this hadithis also subject to cr i t ic ism in that Abu Hurairahs saying that I haveprayed a prayer like that of the Prophet is in relation to most aspects ofthe prayer . Secondly, numerous people other than Naeem al-Mujmarhave narrated this hadith but have not mentioned Bismillah in it .

The ans we r to the lat te r objec tion i s that Naee m is a rel iable andtrustworthy narrator and when such a narrator relates then additions (toa hadith) are acc epted. The answer to the first criticism is that on the faceof it , al l aspects of prayer are included in the s imilitude and hence theal ikeness is to be understood in al l acts . The words of the hadith aregeneral and apply to al l acts unless there is some specif ic evidence toexempt an act.

Imam an-Nawawi says in Sharh al Muhazzab (244/3):

Imam Ibn Khuzaymah states that it is proven that the Prophet of Allah(sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to reci te Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr and there are authentic ahadith with connected chainsregarding this. And there is no doubt amongst the people of knowledgeregarding the authenticity and connectedness of these narrat ions. Afterthis he quotes the hadith of Naeem al Mujmar and goes on to say that torecite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr i s p ro ve n f ro m t heProphet.

I t is enough for this narrat ion to be strong that Abu Hurairah himselfused to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.

Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr al so mentions in Al-Insaaf that another support forthe strength of the narration is that Abu Hurairah himself used to reciteBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr. This i s repor te d throughmultiple chains of narrations (which he states). Hafidh mentions a hadithin support of this and says that this is a marfoo hadith which affirmswhat has bee n narrate d on the authori ty o f Naee m a l-Mujmar . Thenarrator of this hadith Ismaeel Ibn Abi Awais is not alone in narrat ingthis but there are other narrators whose reports corroborate this.

A hadith is reported in Sunan Ad-Daraqutni (306/1) with the followingwords:

When the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to lead the peoplein prayer he started his recitation with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem.



15/34



Hafidh Ibn Sayyidun Naas states in Sharh Timidhi (188/3):

Imam Ad-Daraqutni says that all the narrators of this hadith are thiqah(trustworthy) and reliable.

In Sahih Muslim maa an-Nawawi (170/1) the following hadith has beenreported with three chains of narration:

Abu Hurairah says that recitation is done in every rakaah. So wheneverthe Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to recite loudly so that wecould hear, we recite loudly so that you may hear. And when he recitedin a low voice we also recite in a low voice.

This narration shows that the recitation of Abu Hurairah in that when itwas done with jahr or in a low voice is according to the act ion of theProphet. We have already stated earlier that the method of Abu Hurairahwas to reci te Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr in jahri prayers,and hence one can deduce that this was the action of the Prophet as well.Similarly there is another sahih hadith reported by Abu Hurairah whichproves exactly this. It is reported in Sahih Al-Bukharee (103/1):

When the Prophet ( sa l-Al lahu-alayhi-wass alam) mad e the ope ningtakbir , he would be quiet for a l i t t le while before his recitat ion. I askedhim, 'O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrif iced foryou, why are you quiet between the (opening) takbir and your recitation?

What do you say (at that t ime)? ' He said , ' I say, Allaahumma baa idbayni wa bayna khataayaaya kamaa baaadta bayn al-mashriqi wal -maghrib. Allaahumma naqqani min khataayaaya kamaa yunaqqaa al -thawb al-abyad min al-danas. Allaahummaghsilni min khataayaaya bil-maa wal-thalj wal-barad" [O Allah, make the distance between me andmy sins as far as you have made the distance between the East and theWest . O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed ofdirt . O Allah, purify me from my sins by snow, rain and hail.]

This hadith has also been narrated in Sahih Musl im maa an-Nawawi(219/1) and hence this is an agreed upon hadith by Al-Bukharee andMuslim and as such i s at a high level of authenticity. This makes it totallyevident that Abu Hurairah used to hear the recitation and the Takbeer ofthe Prophet but did not hear his dua which he recited in a low voice. Andthis is why Abu Hurairah asked him this quest ion. This proves that theProphet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem with jahr and not with a low voice. Rather, the content of whathe used to recite in a low voice is this dua which he mentioned, had herecited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem he would have mentioned that as



16/34



well. Hence we find that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem was included inthe (loud) recitation and was heard by Abu Hurairah.

This above-mentioned hadith is an incontest ible proof for a definit ivejudgement between us and those who are in opposition to recitingBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr. We ask them (those who opposethe loud recitation) whether Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is a part ofthe recitation (in prayer). If it is , then the sunnah is to recite it loudly aswas heard by Abu Hurairah. I f i t is the case that i t is not a part of therecitation and Abu Hurairah did not hear it from the Prophet and neitherdid the Prophet recite it in a loud voice, then it will be said that Bismillahar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not to be recited at all ; neither loudly nor in alow voice. This is because what was recited in a low voice by the Prophetdid not include Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem.

Now our fr iends should e i ther cons ider i t a part of the reci tat ion andrecite it out loudly, or they should not recite it at all whether that is witha l ou d o r l ow v oi ce . R at he r, t hey s ho ul d d ec la re i ts r ec it at io n i nopposit ion to the sunnah. This is because there are only two s ides to(understanding) the above hadith: either Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheemis not to be reci ted at a l l , or i f i t is reci ted then i t should be done soloudly. And to say that it is to be recited but in a low voice, according tothis narration such an act has got nothing to do with the sunnah.

I say: The marfoo hadith of Abu Hurairah and his own action is in frontof the reader as clear as the sun and the hadith of Naeem al-Mujmar hasbeen strengthened (by these evidences). All the excuses and deceitful

justifications that are concocted regarding this have become weaker thana spiders web. One of the narrators of this hadith Imam Laith Ibn Saadhimself used to recite Bismillah with jahr.

Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr writes in Al-Insaaf (a summary of which is):

1. The hadith of Naeem al-Mujmar is authentic without a doubt. TheImam of E gy pt , L ai th Ibn Sad narrate s this f rom Khaal id IbnYazeed al-Iskandraani who in turn relates this from Saeed Ibn AbiHilaal who reports on the authority of Naeem al-Mujmar.

2. Amr Ibn Hishaam al-Bayrooni says the he prayed behind ImamLaith Ibn Saad who used to recite Ameen and Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem loudly.

3. Imam Abu Yahya Zakariyyah as-Saaji reports the hadith from ImamL ai th Ibn Saad who mentions that he heard f rom Khaal id IbnYazeed who heard from Saeed Ibn Abi Hilaal who narrates fromNaee m a l-Mujmar that I praye d behind Abu Hurairah and he



17/34



recited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem as a part of Al-Fatihah andsaid that he prayed a prayer like that of the Prophet.

In this sanad only one act of prayer i .e . to reci te Bismillah with jahr isment ioned and i t is said that the prayer is l ike that of the Prophet sprayer . So i t is understood that Imam Laith Ibn Sad considered thishadith sahih and what he understood from this is to recite Bismillah with

jahr. Resultantly, all excuses and deceitful just if icat ions that are raisedregarding this are now laid to rest.

Another hadith regarding this issue is reported in Sunan Ad-Daraqutni(307/1):

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.

Even though one of the narrators of this hadith Muhammad Ibn Qais isdhaeef (Taqreeb), i t can st i l l be presented as supporting evidence in thepresence of other narrations.

Imam Haakim has used this as support ing evidence in his Mustadrak(232/1).

In summary, several ahadith narrated by Abu Hurairah and his ownaction, in addit ion to that of the great Imam Laith Ibn Sad (regardingwhom it is said that he was more of a faqeeh and followed the sunnahmore closely than Imam Shafiee and Imam Maalik {Tahzeeb 463/8}) addsstrength to and makes the matter definitive.

The following hadith can be found in Sunan At-Tirmidhi (33/1):

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbaas narrates that the Prophet (sal -Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to start his prayer with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem.

Imam At-Tirmidhi states regarding this hadith that its chain of narrationis not strong. He says this because there is some crit icism on two of itsnarrators namely Ismaeel Ibn Hammaad Ibn Abi Suleymaan and histeacher Abu Khaal id Alwalbi . However, Hafidh Ibn Hajar Asqalaanirefers to Ismaeel as sadooq i . e . t ruthful and this is used to approvesomeone. Moreover, he refers to Abu Khaalid Alwalbi as maqbool i .e. ifthere is some support ing evidence to the hadith he narrates then i t isacceptable and otherwise it is weak, as is mentioned in the preface of thebook.



18/34



This rule by Hafidh Ibn Hajar based on justice, as he himself says in thepreface, I will give a ruling on every individual such that is fair and justin the eyes of all c ritical reviewers.

There are also other supporting narrations for this report. Hence, ImamAl-Bayhaqi a ft er mention ing this had ith wri te s in Sunan a l-Kubraa(42/7):

Other than Ibn Abbaas, there are supporting narrat ions for this whichwe have motioned in Kitaab al-Khilaafyaat.

In such a scenario, the hadith of Abu Khaalid Alwalbi is not consideredweak but rather it is acceptable and Imam At-Tirmidhis assertion wouldmean that this narration does not have the strength of the highest levelbut is not such that it is rejected altogether.

The authentic narrat ions mentioned earlier give strength to this report .Imam Ad-Daraqutni has mentioned supporting narrations for this hadithin Sunan Ad-Daraqutni (303-304/1), one of which is presented below:

Muhammad Ibn Yahya Ibn Hamzah reports : I prayed behind Ameer-ul-Mumineen Mahdi and he recited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem loudly.When I asked him about this he said I heard from my father who heardfrom his fathe r who heard f rom h is g rand father who narrate d f romSay yiduna Ibn Abbaas that the Prophet use d to rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem loudly. Then I asked him whether we could narratethis hadith from him and he said yes!

Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaani has mentioned this hadith in Talkhees al-Habeer (235/1) and was quiet in that he did not level any cr i t ic ism.According to Hanafi usool this hadith is considered as hasan or sahih byHafidh Ibn Hajar, as written by Allaamah Zafar Ahmad Thanvi in Anhaaas-Sakan (pg. 25):

Whenever Hafidh ibn Hajar is silent on a narration and does not criticisei t , then this is an evidence for the narrat ion be ing hasan or sahih. Ananalysis of Nayl ul Awtaar by Imam ash-Shawkaani reveals that he tookevidence from Hafidh Ibn Hajars silence at a number of places.

Hence, this narrat ion gives strength to the narrat ion of Sayyiduna IbnAbbaas. This hadith is also mentioned in Musnad al-Bazzaar with thefollowing words:

The Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr when in prayer.



19/34



Hafidh Nooruddeen al-Haythami after mentioning this hadith in Majmaaz-Zawaaid (108-109/2), s tates that all the narrators of this hadith are

trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbaas own action was to recite Bismillah with jahr. I t ismentioned in Musannaf Abur-Razzaaq (90/2):

(I t is narrated) from Amr ibn Deenar that Ibn Abbaas was start ing theprayer with Bismillahi Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem .

I n a dd it io n, Ha fi dh I bn A bd il B ar r m en ti on s i n A l- In sa af ( Ra sa ilMuneerya 189-190/2):

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbaas used to reci te Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheemwith jahr when in prayer and said that this is one of the things that theShaitaan has taken away from the common people.

This act ion by Ibn Abbaas once again g ives s t rength to the narrat ionmentioned earlier. In fact, his famous students: Saeed Ibn Jubair, AtaaIbn Abi Rabaah, Tawoos, Mujahid, Amr Ibn Deenar and Ikrimah all usedto recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr, as is ment ioned inMusannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (412/1), Musannaf Abur-Razzaaq (91/2) andthe words of Amr Ibn Deenaar and Ikrimah are present in Al-Insaaf.

I say: Sayyiduna Ibn Abbaas is considered a great mufassir amongst allthe Sahabah. Sayyiduna Ibn Masood has said:

Ibn Abbaas is an excellent interpreter of the Quraan. (Tahzeeb 228/5)

The Prophet made the following dua for him:

O Allah give him hikmah , O Allah teach him the Quraan. (Al-Bukharee531/1)

For such a great mufassir to espouse this methodology gives strength tothis rul ing . The hadith narrated by him is also authent ic and proven.F ur thermore , for h is s tude nts to adopt this methodology i s e noug hevidence for this ruling to be famous and widespread. Imam At-Tirmidhiin his Sunan (33/1) has also included Sayyiduna Ibn Abbaas amongstthose who hold this opinion.

It is mentioned in (Ad-Daraqutni 302/1):



20/34



Say yiduna Al i repor ts that the Prophet use d to rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem in prayer.

I t should be remembered that this cannot be reported without actuallyhearing it . Imam Ad-Daraqutni writes regarding this hadith that there isnothing wrong with its sanad. (Nasb ur Raaya by Az-Zaylai (225/1))

Imam az-Zaylai quotes from Hafidh al-Mizzi:

Th is s anad cannot be us e d for proof as I d o not k now the narratorSuleymaan Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Abi Thabit.

However, this object ion is not accepted since Hafidh al-Mizzi has saidthis according to what knowledge he had, whereas Imam Ad-Daraqutnihas said that there is nothing wrong in it which means that this sanad isfamous and reliable. There is an usool that the one who knows somethingis a hujjah (proof) on the one who does not know it.

In fact, Ameer-ul-Mumineen Sayyiduna Umars own action was to reciteBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr, as has been narrated throughImaam Maalik in Al-Bayhaqi (48/2):

I saw Sayyiduna Ali Ibn Abi Taalib and prayed behind him and I heardthat he recited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.

It is mentioned in Mustadrak Haakim (233/1):Sayy id una Anas Ibn Maalik narrate s that I heard the Prophet ( sa l-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.

Imaam Haakim states that all the narrators of this hadith from beginningto end are all thiqah . H af id h a dh -D ha ha bi h as a gr ee d w it h h im i nT al kh ee s a nd I ma am a n- Na wa wi h as a ut he nt ic at ed i t i n S ha rh a l-Muhazzab pgs. 350-351.

It is also mentioned in Mustadrak Haakim (233-34/1):

Muhammad Ibn Abi As-Saree al- Asqalani said that I prayed maghriband fajr behind Mutamar Ibn Suleymaan several t imes and he used torecite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr at the beginning of Al-Fatihah and after that at the beginning of the second surah. I heard hims ay t ha t I d o n ot d if fe r e ve n b y a b it w he n p ra yi ng l ik e m y f at he rSuleymaan at-Taymee and my father said that I do not differ even by a bitwhen praying like Anas Ibn Maalik and Anas Ibn Maalik used to say thatI do not differ even by a bit when praying l ike the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam).



21/34



Imaam Haakim s ay s that a ll the narrators o f this had ith, f rom thebeginning t i l l end, are thiqah. Imaam ad-Dhahabi agrees with him and

Imaam an-Nawawi says in Sharh al-Muhazzab (350/3):

Imaam Ad-Daraqutni says that all the narrators of this hadith are thiqah .

This hadith is extremely clear in how it should be understood in that theProphet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) used to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem with jahr. The companion of the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-was sa lam) Anas Ibn Maalik a ls o acted in accordance to this and h isstudent Suleymaan at-Taymee and his son Mutamar Ibn Suleymaan bothacted in accordance with this hadith. Such continuance of this act furtherhighlights the importance of this issue.

Imaam Shaafiee brings the following hadith in his Kitaab al-Umm (93/1):

Sayyiduna Anas narrates that Ameer-ul-Mumineen Muawiyah lead thep ra ye r i n M ad in ah a nd i n i t h e d id h is r ec it at io n l ou dl y a nd r ea dBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem loudly in Al-Fatihah but did not do so forthe second surah (i .e . i t was not heard). When he finished praying thenthe Muhajiroon and Ansaar from all sides started asking whether he stolef ro m p ra ye r o r w as m ade t o f or ge t? ( Be ca us e p eo pl e d id n ot h ea rBismillah and Takbeer) . A ft er t hi s w he ne ve r A mee r- ul -M um in ee nMuawiyah led the prayer he recited Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem, forthe second surah after Al-Fatihah, and Takbeer loudly.

This hadith is present in Sunan Ad-Daraqutni (311/1), Mustadrak Haakim(233/1), Al-Bayhaqi (49/2) and in Al- Insaaf by Ibn Abd il B arr e t c.S imilar ly i t i s a l so pre se nt in Mus annaf Abd ur Razzaaq (96/3) andMaarfatus Sunan wal Athaar of Al-Bayhaqi (205/1).

Imaam Haakim has grades this hadith sahih according to the condit ionsof Musl im. Imaam adh-Dhahabi has agreed with him in Talkhees andImaam Ad-Daraqutni has said that all its narrators are thiqah . Moreover,Imaam an-Nawawi in Sharh al-Muhazzab (349/3) and Hafidh Ibn Sayyidun Naas in Sharh At-Tirmidhi (192/1) have graded it as sahih.

This hadith is clear in its meaning and proves the following:

1. The legislated way is to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem withjahr in jahri prayers . Imaam Yaqub Ibn Sufyaan Fasawi used thishadith in order to deduce that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is tobe recited with jahr. (Sharh al-Muhazzab (349/3))

2. This was also the act ion of the companions.



22/34



3. In fact , when in jahri prayers i f they did not hear Bismillah thenthey used to object to that.

4 . R at he r, t he y o bj ec te d t o t he e xt en t t ha t t hey l ik en ed i t t o t he

abhorrent act of stealing.5. Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem should be recited with jahr at the

beginning of ever surah, be it surah Al-Fatihah or some other surah.6. This was also the way of the people of Madinah. In the mentioned

incident , the congregation included both Muhajiroon and Ansaar.Therefore, the claim that the people of Madinah used did not recitewith jahr or recited silently is proven incorrect.

Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr mentions in Al-Insaaf (Majmoo Rasail Muneerya(192/1)):

Amongst the evidences used to prove that the act ion of the people ofMadinah was to reci te Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr is thehadith which has been mentioned by Imaam Shaafiee.

i .e . t he a bo ve m en ti on ed i nc id en t i nv ol vi ng A me er -u l- Mu mi ne enMuawiyah.

Before stating this, Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr has mentioned ahadith narratedfrom Sayyiduna Abdullah Ibn Zubair and from amongst the Tabieen IbnShihaab az-Zuhri, Abu Qilaabah and the Khalifah of the Muslims, UmarIbn Abdul Azeez. All of them were of the opinion that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is to be reci ted with jahr and they were al l f romMadinah. In fact , the act of recit ing Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem in alow voice only started after the time of the companions.

Imam Al-Bayhaqi brings a narration of Imam Zuhri in as-Sunan al-Kubraa(50/2):

Imam Ibn Shihaab az-Zuhri said that Surah Fatihah and the surah afterthat are both to be recited with Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at theirbeginning. Imam Zuhri himself used to recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at the beginning of surah Fat ihah as wel l as the second surah.Imam Zuhri use d to s ay that the f ir st person to rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with a low voice was Amr Ibn Saeed al-Aas becausehe was a shy person.

The status of Imam Zuhri amongst the scholars of Madinah is not hiddenfrom anybody. Imam Zuhri is the teacher of Imam Daar ul Hijrah MaalikIbn Anas. Abuz-Zinaad refers to him as Alam an-Naas (most knowledgeableof people) . Iraak Ibn Maalik said that out of the fuquhaa of Madinah, ImamZuhri was the most knowledgeable. Imaam Laith Ibn Saad said, I have



23/34



not seen anyone bigger than and with such comprehensive knowledge ashim. (Tahzeeb 448-49/9)

Hence, his testimony that that the action of the people of Madinah was torecite with jahr is enough and the person who started to recite in a lowv oi ce , Am r I bn S a ee d a l- Aa s, w as a T ab i i a nd n ot a c om pa ni on(Tahzeeb). All people before him recited with jahr. Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barrsays:

And Jahr (reciting Bismillah loudly) has been narrated from Umar, Ali,m ay A ll ah b e p le as ed w it h t he m b ot h, w it h d if fe ren ce f ro m t he m(meaning silent also has been narrated), and Amar, Abu Hurayrah, ibnAbbaas , and ibn Zubayr also narrate this . And there is no dif ferenceabout jahr of Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem from Ibn Umar, and it isa lso authe nt ic f rom ibn Abbaas, and upon this i s the g roup o f h iscompanions Saeed ibn Jubayr, Ataa, Mujahid , Tawoos, and i t is themadhab of Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri, Amr ibn Deenar, Ibn Jurayj and Muslimibn Khalid and all the people of Makkah.

All the above-mentioned companions and Tabieen used to recite withjahr and this is also the way of the people of Makkah.

Hafidh Ibn Sayyid un-Naas mentions in Sharh At-Tirmidhi (192/1) : Al-Khateeb relates jahr from Abu Bakr Siddiq, Uthmaan, Ubayy Ibn Kab,Abu Qataadah, Abu Saeed, Anas, Abdullah Ibn Abi Aufaa, Shadaad IbnAws, Abdullah Ibn Jafar, Hussain Ibn Ali and Muawiyah.

He then goes on to write:

Al-Khateeb said that the leading Tabiioon and those after them who say(to reci te ) with Jahr are too many to be ment ioned and to large to begathered. Among them are Saeed ibn Al-Musayyab, Tawoos, Mujahid,Abu Wail , Saeed ibn Jubayr, ibn Sireen, Ikrimah, Ali ibn Al-Hussayna nd h is son M uh am ma d i bn Al i, S al im i bn Ab di ll ah i bn Am r,Muhammad ibn Al-Munkadir , Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Umar ibnHazm, Muhammad ibn Kab, Naf i Mawla ibn Umar, Abu Shathaa,Umar ibn Abdil Azeez, Makhool, Habeeb ibn Abi Thabit, Az-Zuhri, AbuQilabah, Ali ibn Abdillah ibn Abbas and his son, al- Azraq ibn Qays,Abdullah ibn Maqal ibn Muqrin and after the Tabi een UbaydullahAl-Umari, al-Hassan ibn Zayd, Zayd ibn Ali ibn Al-Husayn, Muhammadibn Umar ibn Ali, Ibn Abi Zib, Layth ibn Sad, Ishaq ibn Rahawayah andAl-Bayhaqi added among the Tabieen Abdullah ibn Safwan, Muhammadibn Al-Hanafiyah, Sulaymaan At-Taymee and among their followers Al-Mutamar ibn Sulayman.



24/34



That is , the number of Tabieen and the people after them who were ofthe opinion of reciting with jahr are not too many to count. Some of themhave been mentioned above.

Other than this, the action of Khaleefah Umar Ibn Abdul Azeez is also as trong e vide nce and d ur ing h is reign people use d to act upon thisbecause at that time a lot of the senior Tabieen were still present.

Readers! Imaam Ishaaq Ibn Rahawayah is a famous muhaddith and faqih.Imam Ibn Abdil Barr mentions in Al-Istidhkaar (176/2) on the authorityof Ishaaq Ibn Mansoor:

I asked Imaam Ishaaq Ibn Rahawayah about a scenario where a personwould s ay s ome praye rs in which he would not rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at the beginning of Al-Fat ihah (wil l h is prayer bevalid?). He said he will have to repeat all his prayers!

This was also the way of the people of Makkah and the fuquhaa of theh ar am ai n a re a gr ee d u po n t hi s. A mo ng st t he p er so ns m en ti on ed ,Mujahid, Ikrimah, Abdullah Ibn Abbaas, his son Muhammad, AbdullahIbn Safwaan and Ishaaq Ibn Rahawayah were all from Makkah.

O ther than this, Saee d Ibn Al-Musayy ib , Al i Ibn Hus se in (Zain u lAbideen), his son (Al-Baaqir), Saalim Ibn Abdullah, Muhammad Ibn al-Munkadir, Abu Bakr Ibn Muhammad Ibn Amr Ibn Hazm, Nafi Maula IbnUmar, Khaleefah Umar Ibn Abdil Azeez, Imam Zuhri, Ubaidullah IbnUmar al-Umari, Hasan Ibn Zaid Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Taalib, Zaid Ibn Ali Ibnal-Hussein, Muhammad Ibn Umar Ibn Ali and the Faqih Ibn Abi Dhibwere all from Madinah.

Abu Wail (Shaqeeq Ibn Salma), Saeed Ibn Jubair , Habib Ibn Abi Thabitand Abdullah Ibn Maqal Ibn Muqrin were from Kufah.

Muhammad Ibn Sireen, Abu ash-Shathaa (Jaabir Ibn Zaid), Abu Qilaabah(Abdullah Ibn Zaid), Azraq Ibn Qais, Suleymaan at-Taymee and his sonMutamar were all from Basrah. Similarly, Makhool is Syrian and Tawoosis Yemeni. Imaam Laith Ibn Saad is Egyptian and Amr Ibn Deenaar whowas ment ioned ear l ier is Makki . All of these people are ment ioned inTehzeeb and Taqreeb. Hence we can conclude that major scholars from farand wide were of this opinion.

Furthermore, from the companions that were mentioned, Shadaad IbnAws and Muawiyah are from Syria, Abdullah Ibn Abi Aufaa was fromKufah and Anas Ibn Maalik, even though he went to Basrah in his f inalyears, was from Madinah. Ahadith narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah



25/34



and Sayyiduna Ali were also ment ioned, and on the authori ty of IbnAbdil Barr, Ibn Zubair and IbnUmar were mentioned all of them werefrom Madinah. Mawqoof as well as marfoo narrat ions were mentioned

from Ibn Abbaas who was Makki.

At the end of Al-Insaaf, Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr brings a quote from theson of Imam Ahmad, Abdullah:

Imam Abdullah says that I heard my father say, I like that in Taraweehprayer every person should recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem beforeevery surah and finish the Quraan as it is written in the mushaf.

This narration can be found in Imam Abdullahs book Masai l ImamAhmad Ibn Hanbal, pg. 76.

We have mentioned eight ahadith regarding praying Bismillah ar-Rahmaanar-Raheem with jahr, and ment ioned some more in pass ing. There aremany o ther ahadi th reg arding this and can be found in Sunan Ad-Daraqutni and Al-Bayhaqi etc. The Imaams of hadith such as Imaam Al-Marwazi, Imaam Ad-Daraqutni, Imaam Haakim, Imaam Ibn Khuzaymah,Imaam Ibn Hibbaan and Imaam Khateeb al-Baghdadee have written booksdedicated to this topic.

The re are a ls o proofs reg arding this f rom the four mad habs e .g . wementioned Imaam Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak who was of the opinion thati t should be reci ted with jahr. The Hanafis cons ider him one of the irImaams and ment ion him in the ir Tabaqaat . The interes ted reader canrefer to: Al-Jawaahir al-Madhiya by Abdul Qaadir Qurshi (288/1) and Al-Fawaid al-Bahiyyah fi Tarajim Hanafiyya by Abdul Hayy Lukhnawi pg.103 e tc . In this vein, Maulvi Abd ul Hay y L uk hnawi in Ahk aam al-Qantarah fi Ahkaam al-Basmallah (Majmoo Rasail Shamanya Lukhnawi)accepts that to recite Bismillah with jahr is sunnah and writes that to tryto deny the attr ibution of jahr to the Prophet is not only diff icult , i t isimpossible . The Imaam of the Maaliki Madhab Ibn Abdil Barr is also ofthe opinion that it should be recited with jahr as can be seen from hisproof of it in Al-Insaaf.

It is well-known that the opinion of the Shawafi is to recite it with jahr,their books are full of explanations regarding this issue.

The famous Imaam of the Hanbali madhab, Abul Qaasim Abdur RahmaanIbn Muhammad Ibn Ishaaq Ibn Mandah (d. 470) was of the opinion thatBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem should be recited with jahr, as was quotedby Hafidh Ibn Rajab from Ibn Taymiyah in Tabqaat Hanaabilah (130/1).



26/34



Now we will mentions some of the evidences that the people who are ofthe opinion that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem should be recited in a lowvoice use and then we will make clear their reality.

Their most famous evidence regarding this is narration of SayyidunaAnas Ibn Maalik which can be found in Muslim maa an-Nawawi (172/1)with the following words:

I obs erve d pray er behind the Apost le o f Allah ( sa l-Al lahu-alayhi-wassalam) and Abu Bakr and Umar and 'Uthman. They started with: Al-hamdu li l lahi Rabb al- 'Alameen [All Praise is due to Allah, the Lord ofthe wor ld s] and d id not rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at thebeginning of the recitation or at the end of it .

Answer:

1. The chain of narrat ion (in part) of this hadith is : al-Awzai said thatQataadah informed in writing that Anas Ibn Maalik had narrated tohim. I t should be remembered that Qataadah was congenital lyblind (Tahzeeb (351/9), Taqreeb, Tadreeb ur Raawi by as-Suyootipg. 90). Hence this narrat ion could not have been written by himand he would have had to have someone transcribe it for him andthat scribe is majhool (unknown). This is a lso what Hafidh IbnHajar mentioned in an-Nukat (pg. 294 (manuscript)).

There is a lso some doubt in that the narrat ion would have beencorrupted as the person who delivered the narrat ion to al-Awzaiafter it was transcribed is also majhool. Hence between Qataadahand al-Awzai there are two people who are unknown. Hence thisnarration is not correct with these words. Moreover, Qataadahhimself was a mudallis , as is writ ten in Tabqaat al Mudalliseen ofIbn Hajar pg. 16, famous for doing tadlees, as mentioned by ImaamNasaee and others.

I t is quoted from Ibn Hibbaan in Tahzeeb (355/8) that he was amudallis and because he was mentions as one of the third level byHafidh Ibn Hajar, his ahadith will not be accepted unless he makesit clear that he heard i.e. uses words such as hadathana and samitu,as it is mentioned in the preface to Tabqaat al Mudalliseen. Here hed oe s not d o th is and he nce th is i s the s e cond re as on why th isnarration is dhaeef.

2. S ince the words o f this had ith are in contrad ic tion to what i sre lated by Anas in other sahih ahadith in which is a ment ion of



27/34



reciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr, it is defective andhence is not reliable in front of sahih narrations.

3. Even if this narrat ion is accepted to be sahih then its implicat ionwould be that Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not to be recited atall , neither with a loud nor with low voice. Therefore, there is noevidence in this for those who recite with a low voice.

In Sahih Mus lim, before this another narration i s pre se nt with thefollowing words:

Anas reported: I observed prayer along with the Messenger of Allah (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) and with Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (mayAllah be pleased with al l o f them), but I never heard any one of themreciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem .

Answer:

Even though this narration does not have the afore-mentioned defects, ifit is accepted to be sahih, then there are two ways of understanding it .

One is that Anas Ibn Maalik did not listen to it , this does not necessarilynegate reciting with jahr because it is quite possible that ( it was recited

and ) he d id not hear i t. F ur thermore , the narrations which mentionreciting with jahr, especially those that have already preceded, clearly tellus that the Prophet used to recite Bismillah with jahr. The speech of theone who hears will take precedence over that of one who does not hear.

A second meaning of this hadith could be that he did not recite Bismillahar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at all . In that case, there is no evidence in this forthose who rec it e with a low voice ; the y s hould look for s ome o therevidence. Whereas with us we have ahadith which mention jahr, some ofwhich have already been brought forth for the reader . How will thedeniers of jahr prove their stance with a hadith that mentions the Prophetreciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem?! This is because such a hadithwould mean that some companion heard the Prophet say it , otherwisewithout hearing it no companion would attribute the recitation to him.

There are also some other defects in this hadith:

1. Four ahadith narrated from Anas have been mentioned in which hehimself attributes jahr to the Prophet. Those ahadith refute this.

2. One of these four ahadith, one is in Sahih Al-Bukhari and is moreauthentic than this one. It is clearly mentioned in it that the Prophet



28/34



used to elongate recit ing Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem and thishad ith inc lude s h is act ion within the praye r and outside o f i t.Sayyiduna Anas would never have narrated any act ion l ike this

from the Prophet unless he had actually heard it . Hence this sahihhadith also refutes this.

3. This hadith mentions the action of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmaanwhen i t has s tated ear l ier that the ir way was to reci te with jahr.Hence this reason also makes this narration defective.

4. The act ion of Anas himself was to recite with jahr; how could hepossibly narrate the negation of jahr and then himself oppose it?!According to the madhab of the Hanafis this hadith is abrogatedbecause according to their usul when a companions action opposedhis narration then that is evidence for its abrogation, and it will beunderstood that the companion was aware of the abrogation. As iswritten in the famous book on usool f iqh of the Hanafis , Noor ulAnwaar pg. 755 etc.

Obviously this hadi th is also defective (malool) for themuhaditheen. Even if i t is taken to be sahih then one will have tosay that since Anas is the narrator of hadith mentioning jahr as wellas that which is opposing it , and since his own action was to act onthe narration mention jahr, this is enough to give preference to thisnarration (i.e. the one mentioning jahr).

5. For companions, whether they are from the muhajireen or ansaar, toobjec t to the act ion o f Say yiduna Muawiy ah a ls o rende rs thisnarration defective.

6. We also quoted from Imaam as-Suyooti earlier that the narrat ionreporting jahr at a level of tawaatur. This is also a strong evidencefor this narration to be defective.

7. There are a lot of discrepancies with regards to the actual wordingof this hadith:

i . Some narrators quote Anas as saying, they did not mentionBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem .

i i . Others quote him as saying, they did not recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.

i i i . And s ome o thers quote , they d id not rec it e Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem .

iv. Yet others quote him as saying, they reci ted Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with jahr.



29/34



v. And yet others quote him with these words, I have not heardanyone of them recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem .

And some say when Anas was asked about this he said that I am oldand do not remember . What is worth paying at tent ion to is thatthere is so much dif ference of opinion amongst the people whoq uot e t he sa me n arra ti on f ro m th e sa me c om pa nio n. S om enarrations are proving jahr, others are negating it , and yet someothers reject reciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem in total. Wherea difference exists such that there is no possible way of reconciling(the narra tions), then the narration falls from a level ofauthenticity.

Hafidh Ibn Abdil Barr says in Al-Insaaf (Majmooah ar-Rasail al-Muneerya (178/6)) , When there is so much contradict ion then inmy view this narration cannot be taken as evidence.

Imaam as-Suyuti has agreed with him in Tadreeb ur Raawi (pg. 60)and termed this hadith defect ive (malool) . Hafidh Ibn as-Salaahalso t erms i t as d efec tive (maloo l) in Muqqadimah pg. 43 andwrites that the correct words for the narration are, He used to startwith Alhamduli llahi Rabbil Alameen. The words of the narration al-Bukharee and Muslim are agreed upon are l imited to this. What issaid in addit ion to it that he did not recite with jahr or he did notr e c i t e a t a l l e t c . a r e n o t a p a r t o f t h e h a d i t h b u t r a t h e r i s t h eunderstanding of the narrator in which he has erred. The meaningof starting with Alhamduli llahi Rabbil Alameen is certainly not thathe did not recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem at a l l o r d id notrecite with jahr. What is meant here is that he used to recite SurahFatihah before he recited any other surah of the Quraan. This is thetopic explained in this hadith, but it does not contain the mentionof Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem because Anas himself denies thisand says that he does not remember (these words).

Haf id h Abul F ad l Al- I raaq i in Tanqe ed wal Idhaah (pg . 119),Allaamah as-Sakhawi in Fathul Mugheeth (p .96) and Hafidh as-Suyooti in Tadreeb ar-Raawi (pgs. 90-91) have mentioned somethingsimilar.

From the above we come to know that:

1. The accepted narration is that which is present in the Sahihain (al-B uk hare e and Mus lim) i .e . he use d to s tart with AlhamdulillahiRabbil Alameen. The addit ional wording has been inserted due tothe misunderstanding of the narrator.



30/34



2. The additional words are not based on real ity but are due to thenarrators own comprehension of the hadith.

3. The narrator has erred in properly understanding the hadith.

4. The correct hadith regarding this does not have a mention of notreciting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem because there are severalsahih ahadith which prove to the contrary. In actuality this hadithhas got nothing to do with whether one should recite or not reciteBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem but rather emphasizes that duringthe t ime of the Prophet and the righteous caliphs, the method ofrecitation was to recite Al-Fatihah first and then a second surah. Inand of itself , this issue of what one is supposed to start recitationwith i s impor tant and through this had ith we f ind that one i srequired to recite Al-Fatihah first and then whatever he rememberso f t he Q ur aa n. T he s cho la rs o f h ad it h b ef or e u s h av e d ra wnattention towards this fact . Imaam an-Nasaee has mentioned thishadith under the following heading, The chapter explaining thatone is to recite Al-Fatihah before other surahs.

5. We have explained in detai l ear l ier that one of the names of Al-Fatihah is Alhamduli llahi Rabbil Alameen and we used this hadith toprove that . So what is meant here is that in prayer they reci tedSurah Alhamduli llahi Rabbil Alameen and then some other surah.This meaning is what is mentioned by Imaam Shaafiee in Kitaab al-Umm (93/1) and Imaam At-Tirmidhi has quoted Imaam Shaafiee in

Jami At-Tirmidhi without any objection. Furthermore, Imaam Al-Bayhaqi in Sunan al-Kubraa (51/2), Imaam Haazimi in Kitaab al-I t ibaar pg. 81, Imaam al-Baghawi in Sharh us-Sunnah (55/3),Imaam an-Nawawi in Sharh al Muhazzab (351/1) , Hafidh Ibn as -Salaah in Muqqadimah pg. 43, Hafidh Abul Fadl Iraaqi in Fath al-Mugheeth (109/1), Kirmaani in Sharh al Bukhaaree (111/5), HaafidhIbn Hajar a l-As qalaani in F ath a l-Baar i (227/2) and AllaamahQ as ta la ne e i n I rs ha ad a s- Sa ar ee ( 72 /2 ) h av e m en ti on ed t hi smeaning. This is also the meaning that is present in the famousl ex ic on M aj ma B ih aa r a l- An wa ar ( 53 /3 ). H en ce i t i s to ta ll yincorrect to take this hadith as evidence for recit ing Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem in a low voice.

Second evidence that they use is the following hadith present in SunanAt-Tirmidhi (33/1) with the following words:

Ibn Abdullah Ibn Mughafal narrates that I was reading Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem in prayer such that my father heard it and said, O my



31/34



son this is an innovation and hence save yourself from (this) innovation. Ih av e n oti ced t ha t th e co mpa ni ons detest ed no th ing mor e th aninnovat ions . I have praye d behind the Prophet ( sa l-Al lahu-a layhi-

wassalam), Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthmaan and did not hear Bismillah.You as well when you pray should not reci te Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem but should recite Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.

Answer:

Firstly, this narration is dhaeef (weak) because its narrator Ibn AbdullahIbn Mughafal is majhool (unknown) as is mentioned by Hafidh Ibn AbdilB arr in Al- Insaaf (Majmooah ar-Rasail a l-Mune erya (159/1) ), Th isnarrator is majhool a nd t he n ar ra ti on o f s uc h a n ar ra to r c an no t b e

accepted. Imam Nawawi in Sharh al Muhazzhab (355/3) has quoted fromthe Imaams of Hadith, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Abdil Barr and al-Khateebthat they have termed this narrator as majhool . Hafidh Ibn Hajar hascalled him mastoor in an-Nukat pg. 302 . Hence this narration i s notreliable especially in light of the sahih ahadith that have been mentionedin explanation of this issue.

Secondly, e ve n i f this had ith i s accepte d to be s ah ih the n to rec it eBismillah would be totally forbidden, to recite it would be an innovationwhether done in a low or loud voice. This is because he is asking his sonnot to recite Bismillah (neither with a low voice nor with a loud one), he iss topping him in absolute terms. Those who use this as evidence arethemselves of the opinion that one should recite in a low voice and hencethey themselves are opposing this narration.

Thirdly, even if this hadith is accepted as sahih then the most one can sayis that Abdullah Ibn Mughafal himself did not hear it because he said Idid not hear anyone recite Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem . When he didnot hear then he is considered impaired and the saying of those who didhear will take precedence rather it is hujjah on them as it is established bypeople of usool. Furthermore, how can we accept is saying in oppositionsahih ahadith?!

Imaam Abu Bakr Khateeb al -Baghdadee says (as quoted in Sharh al -Muhazzhab (355/3)):

(The narrator of this narrat ion) Ibn Abdullah Ibn Mughafal is majhooland even if this hadith is proven to be sahih then the narrat ion of AbuHurairah regarding jahr will be unaffected. This is because Abdullah IbnMughafal is one of the young (and s ighaar) companions whereas AbuHurairah is one of the senior (and kibaar) companions. The Prophet (sal-Allahu-alay hi -was sa lam) use d to ord er that in the praye r, men o f



32/34



understanding and intell igence should stand near him and the rest cancontinue to stand in that order. Then certainly Abu Hurairah used to benearer to the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-wassalam) than Abdullah Ibn

Mughafal because of his young age, and it is known that the recitor raiseshis voice more and does jahr in his recitat ion in the middle that in thebeginning and Abdullah Ibn Mughafal did not hear the Jahr of Bismillahas he was far and it is the beginning of the recitation and Abu Hurayrahmemorized it because of his being near, elder and strongest memory andintense care (about the actions of the Prophet (saw)).

Hence even if this narrat ion is accepted to be sahih then this cannot beused as evidence for those who recite in a low voice.

The third evidence (that they use) is the taqseem us salaah hadith and ithas bee n d is cuss ed in d etai l that i t i s not in oppos it ion to rec it ingBismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem. This is because the narrator of this hadithAbu Hurairah himself used to recite with jahr, and if there was evidencein this hadith for the negation of jahr then Abu Hurairah would never actin opposition to it.

Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem is not just the first verse of Al-Fatihah butalso the f irst verse of every surah and this hadith only mentions thosewhich are part icular to Al-Fatihah. Other than this , there is nothing inthis hadith with regards to reciting Bismillah with jahr or in a low voice.The sahih and clear ahadith that have been mentioned should suffice, andto take this as evidence in the presence of sahih ahadith is jus t p lainobstinance.

Conclusion: The sunnah is that in jahri prayers one should recite Bismillahar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with a loud voice because i t is the f irs t verse ofevery surah of the Quraan except At-Tawbah and hence in jahri prayers itshould be recited with jahr and in silent prayers it should be recited in alow voice. It is hoped that this analysis will be sufficient for the ahlul haq .To sum up I would l ike to present an extract from the book of ImaamMuhammad Ibn Maqdisi on this topic. Hafidh Ibn Mulqin quotes him inal-Badr al-Muneer fee takhreej ahadith Rafiee al-kabeer (pg. 363):

One should understand that the ahadith that have been mentioned inrelation to reciting Bismillah are far greater in number, these are reportedfrom the Prophet ( sa l-Al lahu-a layhi-wass alam) through a g roup o fcompanions who are 21 in number. Out of them, some are extremely clearand comprehensive and some are those whose texts which tacit ly implythat in jahri prayers one should recite Bismillah with jahr. There is not as ingle narration which is expl ici t in at tr ibuting reci ting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem with a low voice to the Prophet (sal-Allahu-alayhi-



33/34



wassalam). There are only two narrat ions one of which is of AbdullahIbn Mughafal which is weak and the other of Anas , but even that hasdefects which prevent i t f rom being used as evidence . And some take

evidence from the taqseem us sa laah hadith but, however, there is noevidence in i t for reci ting Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem w i t h a l o wv oi ce . O n t he o th er h an d, t he hujjah h as b een es ta bl is hed o n t heauthenticity of the ahadith used to prove jahr which is a tes t imony tothem being reliable especially that ahadith of the following companions:

1 . A bu Hur ai ra h2 . Um m Sa la ma h3 . I bn Abb aa s4. Anas5 . Al i Ibn Abi Taalib6 . Samurah Ibn Jundub

May Allah be pleased with them all.

Note:There is a famous incident that is often mentioned by admonishers thatthe king of Rome, Caeser (Heraclius) wrote to the chief of the believersUmar (Radhia llaahu Anhu) reque st ing h im to s end a remed y for acomplaint of having a constant headache. So the chief of the believersUmar (Radhiallaahu Anhu) sent him a hat. Upon the king wearing the hathis pain would stop and return when he took it off . He was amazed atthis and hence carefully examined the hat upon which he found Bismillahar-Rahman ar-Raheem written on it.

This incident is totally baseless, without evidence and is not mentionedany where with any chain. Imaam Raazee in his Tafseer Kabeer (1/171)a nd S ha ikh Ism aa eel H ana fe e i n h is R ooh a l- Ba ya an (1 /9 ) ha vement ioned this incident however there is no reference to any book ofhadeeth or history nor has a chain been mentioned for it , you also find itbeing mentioned in some urdu books. For example ad-Daa wad-Dua(pg .16) o f Nawaab S id de eque Has an Khaan , F awaaid Sat taariyy ah(pg.67-68), Ghazaa al-Arwaah of Allaamah Dawood Raaghib Rehmaanee(pg.36), Islaamee Wazaaif (pg.36) of Allaamah Abdus-Salaam Bustawee,Share e Tawe ezaat (pg .34-35) o f Allaamah Abd ul Q aadir His aare eamongst others . In these books the incident has an addit ion of the Kingbecoming a Musl im. This addit ion alone is suff icient in proving thisincident to be a l ie because he did not become a Musl im in the end asHaafidh Ibn Hajr has ment ioned in detai l in Fath ul- Baaree (1/37-44Salafiyyah print)



34/34



In fact we have a hadeeth narrated by Anas (Radhiallaahu Anhu), whichhas been t ransmit ted by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh, the Messenger ofAllaah (Sa llaal lahu Alayhee was -s al lam) wrote a let te r to this k ing

(Caesar) cal l ing him to Is laam. The k ing in his le t ter repl ied saying, Ihave become a muslim. After reading his letter the Messenger of Allaah(Sallaallahu Alayhee was-sallam) said, The enemy of Allaah has lied, heis not muslim he is still a Christian. (Mawaarid az-Zamaan (pg.393).

Imaam Muhammad bin Abd ul laah a l-Azde e (Rahimahullah) a t abatabieen mentioned the batt les of the armies of Caesar the king and theMuslims in his book Futooh ash-Shaam which occurred during the reignsof Abu Bakr and Umar (Radhiallaahu Anhuma). This proves he did notbecome a muslim and remained upon disbelief , hence on this basis theincident is false and rejected.

ahkam-basmallah

Documents