and this is also the position of all others who have examined this question thoroughly and adopted a middle course, reconciling the implications of the evidence with the fact that it is written on a separate line from the surah. This is supported by the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās:

“Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not know where a surah ended until ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful’ was revealed to him.”

Narrated by Abū Dāwūd.

Those who hold this position have two views concerning al-Fātihah, both reported from Ahmad. The first is that the basmalah is part of al-Fātihah alone, and must therefore be recited whenever reciting al-Fātihah is obligatory.

The second, which is the sounder view, is that there is no distinction in this respect between al-Fātihah and the other surahs: reciting it at the beginning of al-Fātihah is like reciting it at the beginning of the other surahs. The authentic hadiths accord with this view and do not contradict it.

Accordingly, there are also three views concerning its recitation in prayer:

The first is that reciting it is obligatory, just as reciting al-Fātihah is obligatory. This is the position of al-Shāfiʿī, of Ahmad according to one of the two reports from him, and of a group of hadith scholars, on the basis that it is part of al-Fātihah.

The second is that reciting it is disliked, whether silently or aloud, as is the well-known position in Mālik’s school.

The third view is that reciting it is permissible—indeed, recommended. This is the position of