It is recommended, like mentioning Allah’s Name before eating, according to the view of the majority (1). Some scholars, however, held that it is obligatory (290), and this is the correct view.
It is an innovation if it is done, for example, at the beginning of the call to prayer: when one wishes to give the adhan, he says, “In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.” The same applies before the prayer.
As for reciting the Quran, it is recited at the beginning of a surah. Regarding reciting from the middle of a surah, some scholars said that it is recommended to say, “In the Name of Allah” (2).
Some scholars rejected this—and this is the correct view—saying: Allah has only commanded us, when reciting the Quran, to say, “I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed.” Thus, if you wish to begin reciting from the middle of a surah, do not say the basmalah (291).
Circumcision is obligatory unless one fears for his life, …
His statement: “Circumcision is obligatory unless one fears for his life.” The first to institute circumcision was Abraham (3).
(1) See Fath al-Bari, 9:522; al-Insaf, 21:361-363; Zad al-Maad, 2:397.
(2) See al-Budur al-Zahirah fi al-Qira'at al-Ashr al-Mutawatirah, p. 11.
(3) Ibn Abi Asim narrated it in al-Awa'il, no. 19, and Tabarani in his al-Awa'il, no. 10, through Salamah ibn Raja, from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet: “Ibrahim was the first to circumcise himself ...” Salamah ibn Raja is reliable but reports unusual narrations, as stated in al-Taqrib; see also p. 165 below. Ibn Adi said of him: “He narrates from certain people reports for which he has no corroboration.”
However, Abu Usamah Hammad ibn Usamah, who is trustworthy, corroborated him by reporting it from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah, as narrated by Ibn Asakir in al-Tarikh, 6:201. The hadith thus ultimately rests upon Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Alqamah, who is reliable but prone to errors, as stated in al-Taqrib.
Ibn Main said: “People have always been wary of his hadith.” He was asked, “What is the reason for this?” He replied: “At times he would narrate from Abu Salamah a statement that was Abu Salamah’s own opinion, then at other times narrate it from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah.” Tahdhib al-Kamal, 26:216. Thus, one cannot be confident in his transmission of this hadith unless it is corroborated.
Ibn Adi, 1:360, also narrated it through Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya, from Yahya, from Yahya ibn Said, from Said ibn al-Musayyib, from Abu Hurayrah, attributing it to the Prophet. Ibrahim ibn Abi Yahya is abandoned as a narrator. Hammad ibn Salamah corroborated him in al-Bayhaqi’s al-Shuab, no. 8641, but this corroboration is of no benefit, since the narrator from Hammad is Abdullah ibn Waqid, who is abandoned. Al-Bukhari, in al-Adab al-Mufrad, no. 1250, and al-Bayhaqi, in al-Shuab, no. 8640, narrated it through two chains from Said ibn al-Musayyib as a statement of his own, not as a prophetic report. Al-Bayhaqi said: “This is the correct version: it is mawquf, stopped at the Companion.”