one after completing the recitation of the Mother of the Book, and another upon finishing the recitation before bowing. Among those who adopted this view were al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Thawr, and al-Awzāʿī, while Mālik and his school, as well as Abū Ḥanīfah and his school, rejected it.

The reason for their divergence is their differing assessments of the authenticity of the ḥadīth narrated by Abū Hurayrah, in which he said:
“He—peace and blessings be upon him—had pauses during the prayer: one when he recited the Opening Chapter of the Book, and another when he had finished the recitation before bowing.”

Fourth issue. The scholars disagreed over reciting ‘In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful’ at the start of the Qur’anic recitation in prayer. Mālik forbade it in the obligatory prayers, whether the prayer is audible or silent; he would not recite it at the opening of the Mother of the Book nor before any other sūrah, though he permitted it in supererogatory prayers.

Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Thawrī, and Aḥmad held that it is to be recited silently with the Mother of the Book in every rakʿah. Al-Shāfiʿī maintained that it must be recited—aloud in audible prayers and silently in silent prayers—and in his view it is an āyah of the Opening Chapter. This was also the position of Aḥmad, Abū Thawr, and Abū ʿUbayd.

Al-Shāfiʿī’s own statements differ on whether it is an āyah at the head of every sūrah, or only in Sūrat al-Naml and in the Opening Chapter; both opinions are reported from him.

The roots of their disagreement go back to two matters: (1) the conflicting narrations on this question, and (2) their dispute over whether ‘In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful’ is an āyah of the Opening Chapter.

Among the reports cited by those who omit it is the ḥadīth of Ibn Mughaf­fal, who said:
“My father heard me reciting ‘In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful,’ and he said, ‘My son, beware of innovating! I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—behind Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, and I never heard any one of them recite it.’”
Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr remarks: Ibn Mughaf­fal is an unknown narrator.

They also cite the report transmitted by Mālik from Anas, who said:
“I stood behind Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with them all—and all of them would omit ‘In the name of Allah’ when they opened the prayer.”
Abū ʿUmar comments: In some narrations he likewise said, “I stood behind the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and he did not recite ‘In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.’”
He adds: The ḥadith scholars have declared that this report of Anas is transmitted with such inconsistency that it cannot serve as evidence, for at times it is related as being raised to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and at other times it is not