What is the ruling on the basmalah before al-Fatihah in prayer?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. As for what follows, these are questions directed to our honorable scholar, Your Eminence the Shaykh, Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan. A questioner says: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. If a person prays and recites al-Fatihah but does not begin with the basmalah, is his prayer invalid? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
What is he saying?
The questioner:
If a person prays and recites al-Fatihah but does not begin with the basmalah, is his prayer invalid?
The Shaykh:
This is a matter of disagreement among the scholars regarding the basmalah: is it part of al-Fatihah or not?
The majority hold that the basmalah is not part of al-Fatihah, but rather an independent verse. The basmalah is not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah, but is an independent verse that Allah revealed to separate the surahs, except for al-Bara'ah and al-Anfal.
However, it is part of a verse in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Naml 27:30] It is part of a verse in Surat al-Naml. As for in other than Surat al-Naml, it is an independent verse, not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah. Based on this, leaving it out does not harm, because it is not part of al-Fatihah. Thus, reciting it is recommended. It is recommended to recite the basmalah before al-Fatihah. If one leaves it out, his prayer is valid, because he has not left out anything from al-Fatihah.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh:
As for those who hold that the basmalah is part of al-Fatihah, that it is part of al-Fatihah, based on this, if one leaves it out, his prayer is not valid, as is the position of al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is part of al-Fatihah. If one leaves it out, his prayer is not valid, because he has left out a verse from al-Fatihah. The correct view is the first one: that it is not part of al-Fatihah.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. As for what follows, these are questions directed to our honorable scholar, Your Eminence the Shaykh, Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan. A questioner says: Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. If a person prays and recites al-Fatihah but does not begin with the basmalah, is his prayer invalid? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
What is he saying?
The questioner:
If a person prays and recites al-Fatihah but does not begin with the basmalah, is his prayer invalid?
The Shaykh:
This is a matter of disagreement among the scholars regarding the basmalah: is it part of al-Fatihah or not?
The majority hold that the basmalah is not part of al-Fatihah, but rather an independent verse. The basmalah is not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah, but is an independent verse that Allah revealed to separate the surahs, except for al-Bara'ah and al-Anfal.
However, it is part of a verse in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Indeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it reads: 'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,
إِنَّهُ مِن سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِThe presenter:
May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh:
As for those who hold that the basmalah is part of al-Fatihah, that it is part of al-Fatihah, based on this, if one leaves it out, his prayer is not valid, as is the position of al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is part of al-Fatihah. If one leaves it out, his prayer is not valid, because he has left out a verse from al-Fatihah. The correct view is the first one: that it is not part of al-Fatihah.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم البسملة قبل الفاتحة في الصلاة؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.