The Ruling on Reciting the Basmala Audibly in the Audible Prayers
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The questioner: He has many questions, as I mentioned before, Your Eminence. We are concluding his letter this time with his question about those who recite the Basmala audibly. Is there any harm in this?
The Shaykh: There is no harm in reciting the Basmala audibly, but reciting it quietly is better. It is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite it quietly, and likewise al-Siddiq, 'Umar, and 'Uthman used to recite it quietly. This is the best. If one recites it audibly at times, some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did this, and it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). However, what is preserved regarding him (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he used to recite it quietly, as Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:Sahih Muslim 399c So if one recites it audibly at times, there is no harm, but the more preferable and better is to recite it quietly most of the time, following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and emulating the righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them), and taking the safest and best course.
The presenter: But what if one prays behind an imam who recites the Basmala audibly?
The Shaykh: There is no harm, there is no harm.
The presenter: There is no harm?
The Shaykh: There is no harm.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh: There is no harm in reciting the Basmala audibly, but reciting it quietly is better. It is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite it quietly, and likewise al-Siddiq, 'Umar, and 'Uthman used to recite it quietly. This is the best. If one recites it audibly at times, some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did this, and it has been narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). However, what is preserved regarding him (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he used to recite it quietly, as Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I observed prayer behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr and Umar and 'Uthman. They started (loud recitation) with: AI-hamdu lillahi Rabb al-'Alamin [All Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds] and did not recite Bismillah ir- Rahman-ir-Rahim (loudly) at the beginning of the recitation or at the end of it.
صليت خلف النبي ﷺ، وخلف أبي بكر وعمر وعثمان فكانوا لا يجهرون ببسم الله الرحمن الرحيمThe presenter: But what if one prays behind an imam who recites the Basmala audibly?
The Shaykh: There is no harm, there is no harm.
The presenter: There is no harm?
The Shaykh: There is no harm.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.