to recite aloud “Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim.” That is the wording preserved by al-Daraqutni. In Ahmad’s version it reads: “They did not recite aloud ‘Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim.’” Ibn Hibban likewise narrates it in his Sahih, but adds: “They would recite aloud ‘al-hamdu lillahi Rabbi al-Alamin,’” as cited in Nasb al-Rayah (1/327). Shuʿbah transmits the report through another chain that will be mentioned below. Al-Bukhari in Juz al-Qiraʾah, Muslim, Abu Dawud (1/125), al-Shafiʿi in al-Umm (1/93), al-Nasaʾi (1/143), al-Tirmidhi (2/15) who declared it sound, al-Darimi (1/283), Ibn Majah (1/271), Abu ʿAwanah (2/122), al-Tahawi, al-Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, and Ahmad (3/223, 273) all relate additional chains from Qatadah with wording similar to the first narration. Muslim, Abu ʿAwanah, and Ahmad further add at the end: “They did not mention ‘Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim’ at the beginning of the recitation or at its end.” Al-Nasaʾi (1/144) also reports it through ʿUqbah ibn Khalid, who said: “Shuʿbah and Ibn Abi ʿArubah related it from Qatadah, from Anas, with the wording: ‘I did not hear any of them recite aloud “Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim.”’” Second line of transmission: from al-Awzaʿi, through Ishaq ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Talhah, from Anas, identical in meaning to the first. It is recorded by Muslim, al-Bukhari in the same booklet, al-Tahawi, al-Daraqutni (120), al-Siraj, and Abu ʿAwanah in his Sahih—as cited in Fath (2/181)—and by al-Tabarani in al-Awsat, in both wordings that refer to reciting aloud, through two separate chains. Third line of transmission: from Mansur ibn Zadhan, from Anas, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer and did not let us hear the recitation of ‘Bismillahi al-Rahmani al-Rahim.’ He also prayed…"