Hadith 7
Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them) used to open the prayer with “al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbi l-ʿālamīn” (All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all beings).

In another wording he said, “I prayed with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān, and I did not hear any of them recite ‘bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm.’”

Muslim records: “I prayed behind the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with them); they would begin the prayer with ‘al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbi l-ʿālamīn’ and would not mention ‘bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm’ either at the start of the recitation or at its end.”

Overall meaning:
Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that—despite his long companionship with the Prophet ﷺ and his close attendance of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—he never heard any of them recite “bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm” in the prayer, whether at the beginning or the conclusion of the recitation; rather, they would commence with “al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbi l-ʿālamīn.”

Scholarly disagreement:
• The three Imams Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad considered the basmala recommended in prayer.
• Imam Mālik held that it is not prescribed.

Mālik based his view on some versions of Anas’s report—“they did not mention ‘bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm’ at the beginning of the recitation or at its end”—and because, in his opinion, the phrase is not part of the Quranic text.

The other three Imams adduced many hadiths affirming its legislation, among them the report of Abū Hurayrah in which he led the prayer and recited “bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm” until he reached “walā ḍ-ḍāllīn (nor those who go astray).” When he completed the prayer he said, “My prayer most closely resembles the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,” recorded by al-Bukhārī.

The Imams then differed over whether it should be recited aloud.
• Imam al-Shāfiʿī maintained that reciting it aloud is prescribed.
• Abū Ḥanīfah and Aḥmad held that it should be recited silently.

Al-Shāfiʿī and his followers cited as evidence the hadith of Anas: when asked how the Prophet ﷺ used to recite, he replied, “His recitation was drawn out; then he recited ‘bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm,’ prolonging the words of ‘Allāh,’ ‘ar-Raḥmān,’ and ‘ar-Raḥīm,’” reported by al-Bukhārī.