The ruling on praying behind an imam who does not recite the Basmala
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Question:
A questioner says: Is it permissible to pray behind an imam who does not recite the Basmala, and who does not consider it to be recited, whether secretly or aloud, in Surat al-Fatihah?
Answer:
The correct view is that the Basmala is a verse from the Book of Allah. However, it is not part of a specific surah, but rather an independent verse from the Book of Allah that was revealed as a separator between the surahs, except for al-Bara'ah and al-Mathani, between which it was not revealed. So it is an independent verse, not part of al-Fatihah. Therefore, if one recites al-Fatihah correctly, his prayer is valid even if he does not recite the Basmala, yes, because reciting the Basmala before al-Fatihah is a recommended practice (sunnah), yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
A questioner says: Is it permissible to pray behind an imam who does not recite the Basmala, and who does not consider it to be recited, whether secretly or aloud, in Surat al-Fatihah?
Answer:
The correct view is that the Basmala is a verse from the Book of Allah. However, it is not part of a specific surah, but rather an independent verse from the Book of Allah that was revealed as a separator between the surahs, except for al-Bara'ah and al-Mathani, between which it was not revealed. So it is an independent verse, not part of al-Fatihah. Therefore, if one recites al-Fatihah correctly, his prayer is valid even if he does not recite the Basmala, yes, because reciting the Basmala before al-Fatihah is a recommended practice (sunnah), yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
أهمية طلب العلم — alfawzan.live (26:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.