The Ruling of Reciting Basmala Loudly in the Loud Prayers (A Comparative Study of Islamic Jurisprudence)

Abstract

The study addresses one prayer issue, namely the ruling of reciting basmala (bismilla’hi r-Rah’mani r-Rahim [In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most merciful]) loudly in the loud prayers. It investigates whether reciting basmala is a lawful act or not; and if it is a lawful act, whether it is mandatory or an act of sunnah (i.e. desirable as an act of prophetic traditions).

The study first refers to the scholars' views of the basmala issue, as to whether it is considered a verse of the Qur’an; and if so, whether it is considered as a verse of Surah Al-Fatih’ah (the opening chapter of the Qur’an). The study then addresses the issue of reciting basmala loudly in the loud prayers and highlights the disagreements and arguments of the scholars regarding this,  in addition to indicating the views that are likely to be more correct and why.

The study concludes with the preference for the scholarly view that it is of sunnah, and that a person should lower his voice with basmala, while it can be recited loudly when there is a plausible reason for that. The study also concludes that it is not permissible to recite basmala loudly all the time.