any authentic, explicit hadith. The strongest hadith evidence on this subject indicates only that the basmalah is recited at the beginning of al-Fātihah, not that it is part of it. Thus, some Quran reciters recite it at the beginning of a surah, while others do not. This shows that both practices are permissible, though whoever recites it has adopted the better practice. Likewise, repeating it at the beginning of every surah is better than omitting it, because this means reciting what the Companions wrote in the copies of the Quran. Even supposing that they wrote it to seek blessing, it should then be recited to seek blessing. Otherwise, how could they write something in the Quran that it is not prescribed to recite, when they kept the written Quran free of everything that was not Quran? They did not even write “Amen,” the names of the surahs, markers for every five or ten verses, or anything else of that kind.

Yet it is Sunnah for someone praying to say “Amen” after al-Fātihah. How, then, could they write something that is not prescribed to be said, when they did not write the non-Quranic words that someone praying is prescribed to say? Taken together, the scriptural evidence indicates that the basmalah is part of Allah’s Book but not part of the surah.

The authentic hadith from Anas does not deny that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān recited it: “I did not hear any of them recite ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy,’” or, “They did not recite ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy’ aloud.” As for the version reported with the wording, “They would not mention ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy’ at