Question: What is the ruling on seeking refuge in the prayer after the opening takbeer by uttering,
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
and then saying the bismillāh (basmalah):
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
before reciting Surah al-Fātihah? And what is the ruling of reciting that after Surah al-Fātihah before one recites another Surah? And should it be recited in every rakʿah? Should it be recited silently or aloud?
Answer:
The Sunnah is that one seeks refuge with Allah and then utters the bismillāh, before reciting al-Fātihah and after the reciting opening duʿā. So, one begins the prayer with Allāhu Akbar – which is the first takbeer of the prayer – it is uttered by the imām, those following him and the one who prays alone. There are various types of opening supplications, but the shortest of them established upon the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) is the following:
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك، وتبارك اسمك، وتعالى جدك، ولا إله غيرك
And it is established from ʿA’ishah, Abu Saʿeed and ʿUmar (Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) would say:
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك، وتبارك اسمك، وتعالى جدك، ولا إله غيرك
Then, he would seek refuge by saying:
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
Or alternatively, the wording of seeking refuge is:
أعوذ بالله السميع العليم من الشيطان الرجيم
And then he would recite the bismillāh:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
These are recited silently, and that is better – even in the loud prayers such as Maghrib, ʿIsha and Fajr. The Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) would recite them silently.
And then he would recite Surah Al-Fātihah. So this is for the imām, those praying behind him, the one praying alone, the male and the female.
After the recitation of Al-Fatihah, one again pronounces bismillāh:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
However, he does not seek refuge again – the first seeking of refuge suffices him. So, he recites the bismillāh after Surah Al-Fātihah if reciting another Surah from its beginning. However, if he is reciting some ayāt from within a Surah, then there is no need for pronouncing bismillāh nor seeking refuge – he merely recites those verses straight after reciting Surah Al-Fātihah. That is because the seeking of refuge and the bismillāh that he recited before Surah Al-Fātihah suffices him.
He takes this approach in all of his prayers and all the rakʿahs. So, he begins the second rakʿah without seeking refuge, he recites just bismillāh followed by Al-Fātihah, then bismillāh again if he is reciting a Surah from its beginning – and without bismillāh if he’s reciting some ayāt from within a Surah (not from its beginning). Likewise, in the third and fourth rakʿahs, the tasmiyah (bismillāh) at the beginning suffices without seeking refuge. That is because the recitation in the Salāt is like one [continuous] recitation, so the seeking of refuge at the beginning suffices for the whole prayer.
However, if one was to repeat the seeking of refuge in the second, third and fourth rakʿah before the bismillāh and Al-Fātihah, then there is no harm – the affair is open and there is allowance – and all praise is due to Allāh. Some of the scholars speak with this, so there is no harm. Nevertheless, what is correct is that the first seeking of refuge in the first rakʿah is sufficient due to what Allah has said:
فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
“So, when you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge with Allah from Shaytān, the outcast and accursed.” (An-Nahl: 98) And as I have previously stated, if one begins a Surah from its start, then begin it with pronouncing the bismillāh – and this bismillāh should be recited silently, not aloud.
And, if occasionally the bismillāh is recited out loud (in the loud prayers) by the imām as a form of teaching so that those behind him learn the Sunnah of seeking refuge or reciting the bismillāh, then there is no problem, alhamdulillāh. This was practiced by some of the Sahābah (Allah be pleased with them), such as Abu Hurayrah, who was describing the prayer of the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam). So, if the imām sometimes raises his voice with seeking refuge and with the bismillāh so that those around him can hear him for the purpose of teaching them, there is no harm in that. May Allāh bless you.
Abu Khadeejah ʿAbdul-Wāhid.
Refer to ما حكم الاستعاذة والبسملة في الصلاة؟ of al-Imām ʿAbdul-ʿAzeez Ibn Bāz (rahimahullāh) from Noor ʿalad-Darb.
