Home » Shafi'i Fiqh » Qibla.com » Reciting the basmala in the prayer before a surah

Reciting the basmala in the prayer before a surah

Answered as per Shafi'i Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya, SunniPath Academy Teacher

After reciting al-Fatiha during prayer, does one recite the basmala (bismillahir rahmanir rahim) silently or out loud when one begins the recitation of an additional surah (or before each surah if one recites more than one surah)? Does one say the basmala (either out loud or silently) prior to reciting verses that start from the middle of a surah or does one simply begin reciting the verses?

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In The Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

The Basmala is a verse of every surah other than the ninth, according to the soundest position, as a tradition related by Muslim concerning “Indeed we have given you Kawthar” explicitly states; and there is no narration stating that this surah is different than any other.[1]

So one recites it at the beginning of each additional surah , out load when one recites the surah aloud and the reverse. The practice of the many Shafi’i scholars we have prayed with is not to recite the basmala when beginning from the middle of a surah; even if one might find that some of the books say this is sunna.

And Allah knows best and He alone gives success (tawfiq).

[1] See: Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, Hawashi al-Sharwani Wa Ibn Qasim al-Abbadi ‘Ala Tuhfah al-Muhtaj Bisharh al-Minhaj (Beruit, Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi), 2:36.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

Read answers with similar topics: