The reason for omitting the basmalah in Surat al-Tawbah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The Shaykh: It is well known that Surat al-Tawbah does not begin with a basmalah, where the features of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are mentioned in its middle, and why is the basmalah not written at its beginning?
The Shaykh:
Yes. The basmalah was not written between Surat al-Tawbah and the preceding surah, Surat al-Anfal, because it was not revealed. Because it was not revealed.
As for the other surahs, when a surah ended, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was revealed, so they knew that the surah had ended. Except for Surat al-Anfal, where Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was not revealed after it, so it was not written because it was not revealed in that place. The scholars differed on the wisdom of it not being revealed before Surat al-Tawbah and after Surat al-Anfal. Some said that the subject of the two surahs is one, which is jihad. That is, Surat al-Anfal is about jihad, and Surat al-Tawbah is also about jihad. So the subject is one. They are one surah because their subject is one.
This is one opinion. The second opinion is that Surat al-Tawbah is a surah about the hypocrites, describing their characteristics and warning them. Therefore, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was not revealed before it because what is mentioned in the surah is not a place of mercy, but rather a place of punishment and a mention of the characteristics of the hypocrites. Thus, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim does not fit it, given its subject, which is the hypocrites, the warning against them, and exposing their secrets. Due to the lack of appropriateness between the basmalah and the subject of the surah, it was not revealed. Allah knows best. But the correct answer is to say it was not written because it was not revealed between them. As for the wisdom, Allah knows best. It may be this and it may be that. Yes.
The questioner:
A request, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Yes, the seeking of refuge in the middle. If you want to read from Surat al-Tawbah, you seek refuge like in the rest of the Qur'an[An-Nahl 16:98] This is general for the entire Qur'an. Yes, but if you are continuing the reading between al-Anfal and al-Tawbah, you do not seek refuge, you do not seek refuge between them, just as some reciters do. Yes.
The Shaykh: It is well known that Surat al-Tawbah does not begin with a basmalah, where the features of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are mentioned in its middle, and why is the basmalah not written at its beginning?
The Shaykh:
Yes. The basmalah was not written between Surat al-Tawbah and the preceding surah, Surat al-Anfal, because it was not revealed. Because it was not revealed.
As for the other surahs, when a surah ended, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was revealed, so they knew that the surah had ended. Except for Surat al-Anfal, where Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was not revealed after it, so it was not written because it was not revealed in that place. The scholars differed on the wisdom of it not being revealed before Surat al-Tawbah and after Surat al-Anfal. Some said that the subject of the two surahs is one, which is jihad. That is, Surat al-Anfal is about jihad, and Surat al-Tawbah is also about jihad. So the subject is one. They are one surah because their subject is one.
This is one opinion. The second opinion is that Surat al-Tawbah is a surah about the hypocrites, describing their characteristics and warning them. Therefore, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim was not revealed before it because what is mentioned in the surah is not a place of mercy, but rather a place of punishment and a mention of the characteristics of the hypocrites. Thus, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim does not fit it, given its subject, which is the hypocrites, the warning against them, and exposing their secrets. Due to the lack of appropriateness between the basmalah and the subject of the surah, it was not revealed. Allah knows best. But the correct answer is to say it was not written because it was not revealed between them. As for the wisdom, Allah knows best. It may be this and it may be that. Yes.
The questioner:
A request, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Yes, the seeking of refuge in the middle. If you want to read from Surat al-Tawbah, you seek refuge like in the rest of the Qur'an
So when you recite the Qur'an, [first] seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled [from His mercy].
فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 08 من 15 / شرح أصول الإيمان / من ترك الحكم بكتاب الله / صالح الفوزان / العقيدة/ كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:04:08)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.