Is Basmala part of the Quran? And the issue of reciting it aloud

 Is Basmala part of the Quran? And the issue of reciting it aloud

     The source of the dispute is whether the numbering of the verses begins with the Basmalah or with the first verse in the Surah? The dispute is not about whether we leave the Basmalah in the Quran or remove it. How is that possible when the Basmalah is fixed in the original version? No one doubted that it was fixed in the original. No one called for removing it from the Quran .
 
The evidence for that is that the Basmalah is fixed in all the Surahs except Surah At-Tawbah, and no one disagreed with that .
 
The Basmalah can be fixed in the Quran and not be a verse of it, just as Allah commanded us to seek refuge in Him from the accursed Satan when reciting the Quran. So does seeking refuge become a verse or not?

Imam Al-Shanqeeti said: “The scholars differed regarding the Basmalah, is it a verse at the beginning of every Surah, or only from Al-Fatihah, or is it not a verse at all?
 
As for his statement in Surah An-Naml, “It is from Solomon, and it is, ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,’” it is a verse from the Qur’an by consensus .
 
As for Surah Bara’ah, the Basmalah is not a verse from it by consensus. There is disagreement regarding other than this. Some scholars of Usul mentioned that the Basmalah is not from the Qur’an, and some said that it is from it in Al-Fatihah only . It was said that it is a verse at the beginning of every Surah, and this is the view of Al-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him.
 
Among the best things that have been said about this is to reconcile the statements, that the Basmalah in some readings, such as the reading of Ibn Kathir, is a verse from the Qur’an, and in some of the Qur’an it is not a verse. There is nothing strange in this, as his statement in Surah Al-Hadid, “For Allah is the Rich, the Praiseworthy,” the word (Hu) is from the Qur’an in the reading of Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisa’i, and it is not from the Qur’an in the reading of Nafi’ and Ibn ‘Amir, because they read, “For Allah is the Rich.” Al-Hamid: Some copies of the Qur’an contain the word (Huwa) and some do not. His statement, “So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing and Knowing.” “And they said, ‘Allah has taken a son.’” The verse. The waw in His statement, “And they said,” in this verse is from the Qur’an, according to the reading of the seven except Ibn Amir. In the reading of Ibn Amir, it is not from the Qur’an because he read, “They said, ‘Allah has taken a son.’” without the waw, and it is omitted in the copy of the people of Ash-Sham. Compare this with this, and with it you will know that there is no problem with the Basmalah being a verse in some letters and not others. And with that the statements of the scholars agree. [1]
 
In short, the Basmalah is confirmed in some readings, and not confirmed in others. This disagreement does not result in any criticism of the Holy Qur’an, because the copies of the Qur’an that the noble Companions wrote during the reign of Uthman, may God be pleased with him, and sent to the provinces, included in them what they had taken from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace. He, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace, said: “This Qur’an was revealed in seven letters.” Abu Ubaid said: “All of these hadiths have been transmitted in succession on the seven letters.” End quote. [2]
 
This is from God Almighty’s mercy on the nation and His facilitation for it, and the nation is commanded to read the Qur’an in any of these letters, as the Prophet, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace, said: “This Qur’an was revealed in seven letters, so read whatever is easy for you from it.” End quote. [3]
 
The writing of the Holy Qur’an does not go beyond being from these letters, and if they chose one letter and there were two faces for it, then this is considered by the people of readings. Imam Ibn al-Jazari said: “And what we mean by agreement with one of the Qur’ans is what was established in some of them and not others, such as the reading of Ibn ‘Amir (They said, ‘Allah has taken a son’) in Surat al-Baqarah without the waw (and by the Scriptures and by the illuminating book) with the addition of the ba’ in the two names and the like, for that is established in the Shami Qur’an, and like the reading of Ibn Kathir (Gardens beneath which rivers flow) in the last place of Surat Bara’ah with the addition of min, for that is established in the Meccan Qur’an, and likewise (For Allah is the Rich, the Praiseworthy) in Surat al-Hadid with the deletion of huwa, and likewise (Hasara’u) with the deletion of the waw, and likewise (Minnha munqaliban) with the dual in al-Kahf, and other than that from many places in the Qur’an in which the Qur’ans differed, so the reading from the imams of those countries was reported in agreement with their Qur’an. If that was not the case in any of the ‘Uthmanic Qur’ans, then the reading would be anomalous because it contradicts the agreed-upon script.” End quote. [4]
 
Imam al-Suyuti said: “The Basmalah was revealed with the surah in some of the seven letters. Whoever recites with a letter in which it was revealed counts it, and whoever recites with something other than that does not count it.” End quote. [5]
 
There is consensus that the one who affirms the Basmalah or denies it is not a disbeliever. Imam al-Nawawi said: “The nation has agreed that the one who affirms it or denies it is not a disbeliever, due to the scholars’ disagreement over it, unlike if he denies a letter that is agreed upon or affirms something that no one has said, then he is a disbeliever by consensus. This is in the Basmalah that is at the beginning of the surahs other than Bara’ah. As for the Basmalah in the middle of Surat al-Naml (“It is from Solomon, and it is in the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”), it is Qur’an by consensus, so whoever denies a letter of it is a disbeliever by consensus.” End quote. [6]
 
It has been mentioned in the books of the Shi’a that the Basmalah is not between Surat al-Duha and al-Inshirah, and between Surat al-Fil and Suwat Quraysh.
 
Al-Hilli and other Imami scholars said: “Our companions narrated that Ad-Duha and Alam Nashrah are one Surah, and so are Al-Fil and Alam Tar Kaif, so it is not permissible to separate one of them from the other in every Rak’ah. And it does not require the Basmalah between them, according to the most apparent opinion.” [7]
 
If the Basmalah were a verse in a Surah of the Qur’an, the Shi’ah would not have rejected it among these Surahs that we mentioned. It is known that the script of the Qur’an includes the Basmalah at the beginning of Surah Ad-Duha, Al-Inshirah, Al-Fil, and Quraysh.
 
Al-Saduq stated explicitly that Ad-Duha and Alam Nashrah are one Surah, and Alam Nashrah and Alam Tara Kaif are one Surah, where he said: “And according to us, Ad-Duha and Alam Nashrah are one Surah, and Alam Tara Kaif and Alam Tara Kaif are one Surah.” [8]
 
In Al-Jami’ Ash-Sharai’: “Ad-Duha and Al-Inshirah are one Surah, and Al-Fil and Alam Tara Kaif are one Surah, and there is no Basmalah between them. It was said that the Basmalah is as in the Mushafs.” [9]
 
He asserted that there was no basmalah, then he mentioned the basmalah between them in the nursing formula. If the matter was an attack on the Qur’an, he would not have asserted that there was no basmalah between them
 
. Al-Hilli mentioned that the one who denies the basmalah is not an unbeliever due to the existence of doubt, as he said: “The companions established it at the beginning of the surahs in the script of the Mushaf, despite their strictness in writing what is not from the Qur’an in it, and their prevention of dots and changes, and the one who denies it is not an unbeliever due to doubt.” End quote. [10]
 
It was mentioned in the books of the Shi’a that reciting the basmalah aloud is not included in taqiyya, and despite this the infallible one orders not to recite it aloud and the Imamis consider it taqiyya.
 
Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi said: “Ibn Abi Aqil said: The narrations from them, peace be upon them, have been transmitted repeatedly that there is no taqiyya in reciting the basmalah aloud. Al-Saduq narrated with his reliable chain of transmission on the authority of al-Fadl ibn Shadhan, on the authority of Abu al-Hasan al-Rida, peace be upon him, that he said: Reciting the basmalah aloud in all prayers is a Sunnah. It was narrated in the Sahih on the authority of Ubayd Allah ibn Ali al-Halabi and Muhammad ibn Ali al-Halabi, on the authority of Abu Abdullah, peace be upon him, that they asked him about someone who recites the basmalah al-Rahman al-Rahim when he wants to recite the opening chapter of the Book. He said: Yes, if he wants to, silently, and if he wants to, aloud. They said: Should he recite it with the other surah? He said: No. They interpreted it as not being obligatory or as taqiyya, as al-Shaykh narrated in the Sahih on the authority of Safwan ibn Yahya, on the authority of Abu Jarir Zakariya ibn Idris, who said: I asked Abu al-Hasan, peace be upon him, about a man who prays with people who dislike him reciting the basmalah al-Rahman al-Rahim al-Kabir ... Allah’s peace be upon him, said about a man who is an imam and begins with Al-Hamd and does not recite Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem, he said: It does not harm him and there is nothing wrong with that, even if it is possible to attribute it to forgetfulness as well. [11]
 
The infallible Imam said that the Basmalah should not be recited between two surahs, so if it was a verse from every surah, he would have ordered it to be recited in the second surah.
 
And on the authority of Masma’ Al-Basri, he said: I prayed with Abu Abdullah, peace be upon him, and he recited Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem, Al-Hamdulillah Rabb Al-Alamin. Then he recited the surah after Al-Hamd and did not recite Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem, then he stood up in the second and recited Al-Hamdulillah and did not recite Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem. [12]
 
Reciting the Basmalah aloud in Al-Fatihah or silently in prayer is not a political issue, but rather a matter of ijtihad among the jurists of the four schools of thought. Its origin is what is authenticated in the Noble Sunnah, in addition to the type of narration of the Qur’an by continuous transmission in narrations of ten. The Basmalah is a verse of Al-Fatihah according to the Kufi count and the Meccan count, and in Bukhari, No.: [4647, 4704, and 5006], and in the rest of the six books, according to the Sahih, the seven Mathani are Al-Fatihah, and the Basmalah is a verse of it, and this is the justification for reciting it aloud because it is a verse of Al-Fatihah.

Among those who supported reciting the Basmalah aloud in Al-Fatihah from the imams of the schools of thought is Imam Al-Shafi’i . Ibn Qudamah says 
 
It is narrated from Ata’, Tawus, Mujahid, and Sa’id ibn Jubayr that it is recited aloud, and this is the view of Al-Shafi’i, based on the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, that he recited it in prayer, and it is authentically reported that he said: What the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, heard us, we heard you, and what he concealed from us, we concealed from you. Agreed upon. On the authority of Anas, that he prayed and said Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem al-Mahdi out loud. He said: I follow the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him  ).  And because of what was mentioned in the hadith of Umm Salamah and others, and because it is a verse of Al-Fatihah, so the imam recites it out loud in the prayer of loud prayer, like the rest of its verses - it was mentioned in “Al-Mughni” by Ibn Qudamah, 1/285.

And Imam Al-Nawawi Al-Shafi’i says: As for the ruling on the issue, our school of thought is that Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem is a complete verse from the beginning of Al-Fatihah without dispute, and it is not at the beginning of Bara’ah by consensus of the Muslims. As for the rest of the surahs other than Al-Fatihah and Bara’ah, there are three opinions about the Basmalah at the beginning of each surah, which were narrated by the Khurasanis, the most correct and famous of which is the correct or most correct, that it is a complete verse. Al-Majmu’ by Al-Nawawi, 3/290

Ibn Qudamah was of the opinion that the Basmalah should not be recited aloud in prayer, as he said: The narration from Ahmad does not differ that reciting it aloud is not recommended. Al-Tirmidhi said: This is the practice of most of the scholars among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and those who came after them from the Followers, including Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali. Ibn al-Mundhir mentioned it on the authority of Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn al-Zubayr, and ‘Ammar, and al-Hakam, Hammad, al-Awza’i, al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubarak, and the People of Opinion said the same. We have the hadeeth of Anas and ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mughaffal. Aisha (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to begin the prayer by saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ and reciting ‘Al-Hamdulillah Rabbi al-‘Alamin’ (Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds). Agreed upon. Abu Hurairah narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: Allaah the Most High said: ‘I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves, and My servant will have what he asks for. So when the servant says: ‘Al-Hamdulillah Rabbi al-‘Alamin’ (Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds),’ Allaah says: ‘My servant has praised Me. ’  He mentioned the hadeeth. Narrated by Muslim. This indicates that he did not mention “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,” and did not recite it aloud. The hadith of Abu Hurairah that they used as evidence does not indicate that he recited it aloud, and it is not impossible that he heard it when he recited it quietly, just as he heard the opening and seeking refuge from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while reciting them quietly. Abu Qatada narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would sometimes hear them recite the verse in the noon prayer. Agreed upon. The hadith of Umm Salamah does not indicate that he recited it aloud, and all the other reports of reciting it aloud are weak, as their narrators are the narrators of concealment, and the chain of transmission of concealment is sound and established without disagreement about it, so this indicates the weakness of the narration of reciting aloud. We have been informed that al-Daraqutni said: There is no authentic hadith about reciting aloud. It was mentioned in “Al-Mughni”, 1:521.
 
Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyy said: He would sometimes recite “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” aloud, and he would recite it silently more than he recited it aloud. There is no doubt that he did not recite it aloud all the time, five times a day and night, whether at home or traveling. This would have been hidden from his Rightly-Guided Caliphs, the majority of his Companions, and the people of his country in the virtuous eras. This is one of the most absurd of impossibilities, to the point that it requires clinging to general phrases and weak hadiths. The authenticity of those hadiths is not explicit, and the explicit ones are not authentic. This is a matter that requires a huge volume. It was mentioned in “Zad Al-Ma’ad” by Ibn Al-Qayyim, 1/206.
 
The effort of the remaining imams of the schools of thought to recite the Basmalah in secret is from the Sunnahs, as narrated by Muslim, on the authority of Al-Awza’i, on the authority of Qatada, that he wrote to him informing him on the authority of Anas, who said: I prayed behind the Prophet, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace, and Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, and they would begin with “Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.” (Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan [2/15/246], and authenticated by Al-Albani in Sahih Al-Tirmidhi [ 246], and narrated by Al-Nasa’i in his Sunan Al-Mujtaba [2/470/901], and authenticated by Al-Albani in Sahih Al-Nasa’i [901], and narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad [3/648/12303], and authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahihah [1/248/491], and authenticated by Ibn Rajab in Fath Al-Bari [4/350 ] , and the summary of his ruling is : [ Sahih.
 
Imam Al-Shafi’i, may God have mercy on him, says: The meaning of this hadith is that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman used to begin the recitation with [Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds] ], meaning: that they would begin by reciting the opening chapter of the book before the surah, and it does not mean that they would not recite “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.  It was mentioned in “Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi” by al-Mubarakfuri [No. 246], and in “Jami’ al-Tirmidhi ” [ Vol. 2/p. 15/No. 246]; end quote .
 
Then Abu Isa Al-Tirmidhi said: (Al-Shafi’i believed that one should begin with “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” and that one should recite it aloud if one recites aloud) (It was mentioned in “Sunan Al-Tirmidhi”, 4/15.


[1] A Note on the Principles of Jurisprudence, by Muhammad al-Shanqiti, 66
[2] The Virtues of the Qur’an, by Al-Qasim bin Salam, 339
[3] Sahih al-Bukhari, Chapter: The Qur’an was revealed in seven letters, 6/184, and Sahih Muslim, Chapter: Explaining that the Qur’an was revealed in seven letters and explaining its meaning, 1/560.
[4] Publishing the Ten Readings, by Ibn al-Jazari, 1/21
[5] Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran, by al-Suyuti, 1/239
[6] Al-Majmu’ Sharh Al-Muhadhdhab, by Al-Nawawi, 3/334 
[7] The Laws of Islam, by Jaafar bin Al-Hasan Al-Hilli, 1/66, Paths of Understanding, by Al-Shahid Al-Thani, 1/211, The Paths of Rulings, by Muhammad Al-Amili, 3/377
[8] Beliefs, by Al-Saduq, 84
[9] The Compendium of Laws, by Yahya bin Saeed Al-Hilli, 81
[10] The End of Rulings, by Al-Allamah Al-Hilli, 1/462, and The Reminder of the Jurists, by Al-Hilli, 3/133
[11] Rawdat al-Muttaqin, by Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi, 2/303
[12] Tahdhib al-Ahkam, by al-Tusi, 2/288

The Hanbalis claim that the Holy Quran has been distorted because they do not believe that the Basmalah should be recited in prayer, as it is not part of the Holy Quran.


Is it true what is said that the Hanbalis claim that the Holy Qur’an has been distorted because they do not consider it to be read in prayer due to it not being part of the Holy Qur’an, and the reality is that it is found in all the surahs except Surat At-Tawbah, and does that mean that the Qur’an has been distorted by addition or subtraction  ?! 

Al-Dhahabi said in the year 447 AH: The Hanbalis revolted in Baghdad, led by Abu Ya’la and Ibn al-Tamimi, and they denied the loud recitation of the Basmalah and forbade loud recitation and chanting in the call to prayer and the Qunut, and they forbade the imam of the Bab al-Shair mosque from loudly reciting the Basmalah, so he took out a copy of the Qur’an and said: Remove it from the Qur’an so that I do not recite it. (It was mentioned in “History of Islam” by al-Dhahabi [p. 23  ) 

The answer :

The Hanbalis who are fundamentalists were people of piety and severity in religion, and they were a sword drawn against innovations and doubts, except that they were Sunni fundamentalists in a purely fundamentalist manner, and their interest in the Noble Sunnah was exaggerated, so their imam was the imam of the people of the Sunnah, and he is Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may God have mercy on him. He was one of the judges of hadith and a teacher of the imams of hadith, including Imam al-Bukhari and the sheikh of the early hadith masters and hadith scholars. He had memorized one million hadiths, four hundred thousand of which were fabricated and false, and six hundred thousand hadiths were authentic, good and weak  .

Abu Zur’ah al-Razi, may God have mercy on him, said  :   Ahmad ibn Hanbal memorized a thousand; a thousand hadiths  ) ,  mentioned in “Tahdhib al-Tahdhib” by Ibn Hajar [Vol. 1/p. 74 ]  ..

And the adoption of concealing the Basmalah in prayer originated with the Hanbalis from the most authentic hadith with a continuous chain of transmission in this field, which is the hadith of Anas bin Malik, may God be pleased with him, which was narrated by al-Tirmidhi  ..

In addition, the Malikis and Hanafis do not see the Basmalah as a verse in al-Fatihah or in any other surah except Surat al-Naml, which is included in it, and for fear that the Basmalah would be recited aloud at the beginning of al-Fatihah and the surah accompanying it, they stressed, and I mean the Hanbalis, concealing the Basmalah, and the Malikis did not say it aloud or secretly  ..

And the opinions of the imams of the four schools of thought regarding the Basmalah as a verse are as follows :

The opinion of the Great Imam Abu Hanifa  : The Great Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu’man, may God be pleased with him, believes that the Basmalah is a complete verse of the Holy Qur’an that was revealed to separate the surahs and is not a verse of al-Fatihah  ..

The opinion of Imam Malik bin Anas :  Imam Malik, may God be pleased with him, believes that the Basmalah is not a verse of Al-Fatihah and not from any of the chapters of the Qur’an  ..

The opinion of Imam Al-Shafi’i and Imam Ahmad :  Imam Al-Shafi’i and his student Imam Ibn Hanbal, may God Almighty have mercy on them, believe that the Basmalah is a verse of Al-Fatihah and from every chapter. Imam Al-Shafi’i believes that it is necessary to recite it aloud because it is a verse, and Imam Ahmad believes that it should not be recited aloud according to what is established in the principles of the Sunnah of the Prophet, may God bless him and his family and grant them peace, and everyone is correct according to the Sunnah’s evidence  .

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