Evidence for the Imam Reciting Bismillāh Aloud in Audible Prayers According to Authentic Hadiths
This excerpt is taken from Shaykh Zubair Ali Zai (رحمه الله)’s book Hadiyyat al-Muslimeen: Important Issues of Salah with the Complete Prophetic Prayer (ﷺ).
Reciting Bismillāh Aloud
«عن عبد الرحمن بن أبزى رضى الله عنه قال: صليت خلف عمر فجهر بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم»
Narration: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā (رضي الله عنه) said:
“I prayed behind ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه), and he recited Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm aloud.”
[Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 1/412, ḥadīth 4757; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār by al-Ṭaḥāwī (wording from here), 1371; al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī, 2/48]
All the narrators are trustworthy and reliable, and the chain is continuous; therefore, this chain is authentic (ṣaḥīḥ).
✦ فوائد (Benefits)
① This authentic ḥadīth proves that in audible prayers, it is entirely correct for the imam to recite “Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm” aloud.
② It is also authentically proven from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās and ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr (رضي الله عنهما) that they recited Bismillāh aloud.
[Juzʾ al-Khaṭīb and its manuscript, al-Dhahabī in Mukhtaṣar al-Jahr bil-Basmala by al-Khaṭīb, p. 180, ḥadīth 41] — and al-Dhahabī graded it ṣaḥīḥ.
③ Reciting Bismillāh quietly is also correct and permissible, as established from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim and other sources.
[1/172, ḥadīth 399]
Brief Authentication of the Narrators in the Report from ʿUmar ibn Dharr (رحمه الله)
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā (رضي الله عنه): A younger Companion. [Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 3794]
- Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (رحمه الله): Trustworthy. [Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 2346]
- Dharr ibn ʿAbdullāh: Trustworthy, devout, accused of irjāʾ. [Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 1840]
- ʿUmar ibn Dharr: Trustworthy, accused of irjāʾ. [Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, no. 4893]
- This narration from ʿUmar ibn Dharr is transmitted by Khālid ibn Mukhlid, Abū Aḥmad, and Ibn Qutaybah. For their authentication, see Tahdhīb and similar works.
