The Ruling on the Basmala and Whether It Is Part of al-Fatihah
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Question:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, is the basmalah part of al-Fatihah? And if it is part of al-Fatihah, does the prayer of the one who prays and does not recite it become invalid because he left out a verse of al-Fatihah?
Answer:
The stronger position is that the Basmala is a verse of the Qur'an, independent, not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah. It is recited at the beginning of the surahs, at the beginning of the surahs except for what comes in the middle of a surah, such as[An-Naml 27:30-31]. It is at the beginning of the surahs, except for Surat al-Baqarah, for it was not revealed before it, so it is not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah.
Reciting it in the prayer is a recommended practice (sunnah). One says it quietly. Then one seeks refuge from Satan, then one recites al-Fatihah. It is known from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did not recite "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim" aloud. He only recited "Alhamdulillah Rabb al-'Alamin" aloud. Until one of them said: I prayed behind the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), behind Abu Bakr, and behind 'Umar. They would begin the prayer with "Alhamdulillah Rabb al-'Alamin." This indicates that they did not recite the Basmala aloud. If it had been part of al-Fatihah, they would have recited it aloud with al-Fatihah. So if one leaves it out, his prayer is valid, but he has left out a recommended practice (sunnah) from the recommended practices (sunnah) of the prayer. Yes.
Your Eminence the Shaykh, is the basmalah part of al-Fatihah? And if it is part of al-Fatihah, does the prayer of the one who prays and does not recite it become invalid because he left out a verse of al-Fatihah?
Answer:
The stronger position is that the Basmala is a verse of the Qur'an, independent, not part of al-Fatihah or any other surah. It is recited at the beginning of the surahs, at the beginning of the surahs except for what comes in the middle of a surah, such as
(30) Indeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it reads: 'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the
إِنَّهُ مِن سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ أَلَّاReciting it in the prayer is a recommended practice (sunnah). One says it quietly. Then one seeks refuge from Satan, then one recites al-Fatihah. It is known from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he did not recite "Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim" aloud. He only recited "Alhamdulillah Rabb al-'Alamin" aloud. Until one of them said: I prayed behind the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), behind Abu Bakr, and behind 'Umar. They would begin the prayer with "Alhamdulillah Rabb al-'Alamin." This indicates that they did not recite the Basmala aloud. If it had been part of al-Fatihah, they would have recited it aloud with al-Fatihah. So if one leaves it out, his prayer is valid, but he has left out a recommended practice (sunnah) from the recommended practices (sunnah) of the prayer. Yes.
Source
الاستقامة على دين الله — alfawzan.live (48:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.