221 – Anas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that “the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, and ʿUmar used to open the prayer with al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn (‘All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds’).” Agreed upon.

Muslim adds: “They did not mention bismi llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm (‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful’) at the beginning of the recitation or at its end.”

In another narration recorded by Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Khuzaymah: “They did not recite bismi llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm aloud.”

A further wording preserved by Ibn Khuzaymah states: “They would recite it silently.”

Accordingly, the negation in Muslim’s wording is taken to mean the absence of audible recitation, contrary to those who declared the report defective. (1)

Hadith grading
This ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ (sound). Some scholars criticized it for what they perceived as inconsistencies among its transmissions, yet al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar writes in Fatḥ al-Bārī (2/266): “The transmitters from Shuʿbah differ over the exact wording of the ḥadith. A number of his students relate it as, ‘They used to open with al-ḥamdu lillāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn,’ while others narrate, ‘I never heard any of them recite bismi llāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm.’ Muslim recorded the latter wording through Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī and Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar; al-Khaṭīb likewise cited it from Abū ʿUmar al-Dūrī, the teacher of al-Bukhārī on this topic; and Ibn Khuzaymah transmitted both wordings through Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar. These men are among Shuʿbah’s most reliable students, and it should not be said…"