The number of verses in Surat al-Fatihah and whether the Basmala is one of them.

The Shaykh : We will first speak about its verses. How many verses does it have? Its verses are seven by consensus. So its verses are seven, but what are these verses? Let us count them. Some scholars said, “Its verses are seven, beginning with the Basmala, beginning with the Basmala”, so it would be as follows: These are seven verses. However, the stronger view is that it is seven verses beginning with "All praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds." The evidence for this is what is established in the Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): أن الله تعالى قال : قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين فإذا قال الحمد لله رب العالمين قال الله حمدني عبدي ، وإذا قال الرحمن الرحيم قال أثنى علي عبدي ، وإذا قال مالك يوم الدين قال مجدني عبدي ، وإذا قال إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين قال هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين ، وإذا قال اهدنا الصراط المستقيم قال الله هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل That Allah the Exalted said: "I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant in two halves. When he says, 'All praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds,' Allah says, 'My servant praised Me.' When he says, 'The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy,' He says, 'My servant extolled Me.' When he says, 'Master of the Day of Judgment,' He says, 'My servant glorified Me.' When he says, 'You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help,' He says, 'This is between Me and My servant in two halves.' When he says, 'Guide us to the straight path,' Allah says, 'This is for My servant, and for My servant is what he has asked.'" This indicates that the beginning of al-Fatihah is the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Just as the Basmala is not a verse of the other surahs, so it is not a verse of Surat al-Fatihah. The meaning and the wording also indicate this. The meaning is that Allah said in this surah that He divided it between Himself and His servant in two halves. This necessitates that three of its verses belong to Allah, three belong to the servant, and one is between them. So let us look: is a verse, is a second verse, is a third verse. Who is all this for? For Allah. is a verse, is a verse, is a verse. How many are these? Three. is a verse between Allah and the servant in two halves. Then, according to the order I mentioned, this verse is the half-verse, because there are three verses before it and three verses after it. Now, this is another point in favor of this view.
The third point in favor of this view is that if we say the first verse is , the verses become harmonious and similar in length. But if we say the first verse is "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy," the seventh verse becomes what? Long, not proportionate to what comes before it, because it would be . Compare it with His saying: It becomes long, with no proportion between them. Therefore, the necessary view is that the first verse of Surat al-Fatihah is .