“…whenever he recited: Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim, the polytheists would ridicule him and say, ‘Muhammad is calling upon the deity of al-Yamama.’ This, then, is the original form of the report; it is obvious that the wording found in later transmissions is only an abridgment. Al-Bukhari also related it through Abu Bishr—Saʿid b. Jubayr—from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: ‘The verse “Do not raise your voice in your prayer, nor lower it too much” (Q 17:110) was revealed while the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was in hiding at Mecca. When he prayed with his Companions, he would recite the Quran aloud; when the idol-worshippers heard him they would revile the Quran…’—and so forth. This is the source of the hadith.” It has additional chains which al-Zaylaʿi (1/345–347) cited, declaring them weak and explaining their defects. What further demonstrates the weakness of the narration from Ibn ʿAbbas is that it is authentically reported from him that he said: “Reciting Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim aloud is the habit of the Bedouins.” Al-Tahawi (1/120) recorded this through ʿAsim and ʿAbd al-Malik b. Abi Bashir, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbas; and Ahmad—cited in Nasb al-Raya (1/347)—related it from Sufyan, from ʿAbd al-Malik alone. This isnad is sound. Al-Zaylaʿi adds: “This report is reinforced by what al-Athram transmitted with a firm chain from ʿIkrima— the disciple of Ibn ʿAbbas—who said: ‘I would be a Bedouin were I to recite Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim aloud.’ It is likely that he derived this judgment from his teacher Ibn ʿAbbas.” Third hadith: from ʿAli and ʿAmmar, stating that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would pronounce Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim aloud in the prescribed prayers … Al-Hakim (1/299) narrated it through Saʿid b. ʿUthman al-Kharrar, who said: ‘ʿAbd al-Rahman b…’