Is the Basmala a verse of al-Fatihah or of every surah of the Qur'an?

The questioner : Is the Basmala a verse of al-Fatihah or of every surah, or what is its ruling inside or outside the prayer?

The Shaykh : Or what?

The questioner : Or is it a verse of every surah? And what is its ruling inside or outside the prayer?

The Shaykh : There is no difference between inside the prayer and outside it regarding whether it is a verse of every surah or not. The correct view is that it is a verse; because it is reported in "Sahih Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said one day—and he had dozed off and then woken up—: .
He said: , then he recited it, and recited before it: ; this indicates that the Basmala is a verse of the surah. This is further confirmed by its mention in the mushafs that we have inherited from generation to generation. This is the stronger position: that the Basmala is a verse of every surah mentioned before it, except for Surat al-Bara'ah. However, what confuses some people is that if the Basmala were a verse like the rest of the surah, the Sunnah would be for the imam to recite it aloud, just as he recites the rest of the surah aloud in all the prayers where recitation is loud. We say: this does not negate that the Basmala is a verse of every surah. All that is the case is that it is not part of the Sunnah to recite it aloud in the loud prayers. This is a ruling separate from its being a verse before every surah. The Sunnah clarified that the Basmala is not recited aloud in the loud prayers, but it is recited silently in the loud prayers and in the silent prayers. After the coming of this hadith we mentioned first, which is in "Sahih Muslim," and after the successive mushafs mentioning it before every surah except Surat al-Bara'ah, all of this is evidence that it is a verse at the beginning of every surah.