#426: Reciting Surātul Fātihah without Basmallah

QUESTION

THE RULING OF FORGETTING TO RECITE THE BASMALAH WITH FĀTIHAH

” I was leading Salaatu Maghrib.

So in the second raka’at, it’s either I forgot to recite “Basmalat” or that I couldn’t recall if I read it before reciting the rest of the Suratul-Faatihat.

The event came to my mind when I was reciting the remaining parts of the Suratul-Faatihat.

I was confused as to the decision to make.

Should I restart and read the “basmalat” silently as usual and then go on with the rest, or what?

JazaakAllaahu khairan”

ANSWER

Alhamdulillaah!

Imām Ash-Shaafi’i – rahimahullaah – and the learned Imaams of his school hold that ‘Bismillaahir Rahmanir Rahim’ is the first verse of Suratu Al-Faatiha and must therefore be recited before one recites Suratu Al-Faatihah during the Salaat. On this basis, the Shafi’i school holds that any raka’a in which the faatihah is not recited is void. They however hold that it should be recited inaudible.

The Maliki position and the position of Ahmad and the Imaams of both schools is that the Basmalah is not part of Suratu Al-Faatiha and thus is not a condition for the acceptance of the Salaat. However, it is Sunnah to recite the Basmalah silently before commencing reciting the Faatihah during Salaah.

Imām Ash-Shaafi’s position on this is weak due to the overwhelming evidences to prove the contrary.

Therefore, you do not need to do anything in the situation depicted.

Allāhu A’alam

Bārakallāhu Fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran.

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