and neglected what he had commanded them to do, deserves a severe punishment that will deter him and others like him from such conduct.

The basmalah (“In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful”) is an even stronger example. Some Quran reciters separate the surahs with it, while others do not, even though it is written in the copies of the Quran. Those who follow the reading of a reciter who omits the basmalah likewise omit it. Their fellow reciters who do recite it do not therefore condemn them for omitting it. How, then, can someone following the reading of the majority be condemned for omitting the takbīr? The takbīr is not written in the copies of the Quran, and Muslims unanimously agree that it is not part of the Quran. Anyone who believes that the takbīr is part of the Quran must be called upon to repent; if he does not repent, he is to be put to death.

The basmalah is different: according to al-Shāfiʿī’s school, it is part of the Quran wherever it is written. This is also Ahmad’s position, explicitly reported from him on more than one occasion, and the position of Abū Hanīfah according to the discerning scholars among his followers and other leading scholars. However, the position of Abū Hanīfah, Ahmad, and others is that the basmalah is part of the Quran wherever it is written, but is not part of the surah. Mālik’s position is that it is not part of the Quran except in Sūrat al-Naml. This is also one position within the schools of Abū Hanīfah and Ahmad.

Nevertheless, the disagreement over it is a matter open to scholarly interpretation. Thus, whoever says, “It is part of the Quran wherever it is written,” or says, “It is not part of the Quran except in Sūrat