Masalat al-Tasmiyah li Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 507 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ṣaḥābah
Mas'alat al-Tasmiyah (The Question of the Basmalah) is a specialized treatise on the legal and hadith-critical ruling of reciting the basmalah silently or aloud in ritual prayer, composed by the hadith scholar Ibn al-Qaysarani (d. 507 AH / 1113 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was written in response to an inquirer who questioned why Ibn al-Qaysarani had stopped reciting بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ aloud (jahr) at the beginning of Surah al-Fatihah and subsequent chapters during prayer after previously doing so . In his introduction, Ibn al-Qaysarani explains that during his early life he had adopted the practice through blind imitation (taqlid) of his parents and local environment . However, upon pursuing the study of hadith transmission and critical methodology, he examined the evidence of both viewpoints and concluded that there was no authentic hadith relied upon by scholars of transmission demonstrating that the Prophet ﷺ recited the basmalah aloud in prayer .
He notes that neither al-Bukhari nor Muslim included any text supporting audible recitation, whereas authentic narrations supporting silent recitation (tark al-jahr) are recorded in their two Sahih collections and other compilations of Sunan . He adds that among the major imams whose rulings were widely followed, only al-Shafi'i adhered to the practice of reciting it aloud . When addressing why certain traditionists practiced audible recitation, Ibn al-Qaysarani asserts that those among them who possessed full knowledge of sound and defective transmissions yet maintained the practice were following personal preference contrary to the Sunnah, while those lacking critical expertise were merely excused as imitators .
Structure and Core Evidence
Ibn al-Qaysarani organizes the core arguments of the treatise around four principal evidentiary foundations (usul):
- The First Foundation: The narration from Anas ibn Malik, transmitted through Qatada ibn Di'ama and documented in the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim, stating that the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan did not recite the basmalah aloud . Ibn al-Qaysarani corroborates this report with narrations from other Companions, including Abdullah ibn Mughaffal and Abu Hurayra, as well as from prominent Successors who reported from Anas, such as Thabit al-Bunani, al-Hasan al-Basri, Muhammad ibn Sirin, Dawud ibn Abi Hind, and Abu Na'ama al-Hanafi . He also records chains of transmission through leading scholars from Qatada—including Shu'ba ibn al-Hajjaj, Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, Hisham al-Dastawa'i, and al-Awza'i—while highlighting that al-Bukhari and Muslim relied specifically on Shu'ba and al-Awza'i because Shu'ba critically questioned Qatada to safeguard against his potential tadlis (concealment of sources) .
- The Second Foundation: The hadith of Abu Sa'id ibn al-Mu'alla recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, identifying Surah al-Fatihah as the "Seven Oft-Repeated" verses ( السَّبْعُ الْمَثَانِي ) . Ibn al-Qaysarani argues that this report indicates that al-Fatihah consists of seven verses independent of the basmalah, consistent with the verse counting method of the Quranic reciters of Medina .
- The Third Foundation: The report of Aisha transmitted in Sahih Muslim, describing the complete ritual prayer of the Prophet ﷺ and stating that he opened his prayer with the takbir and his recitation with الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ .
- The Fourth Foundation: The hadith qudsi of Abu Hurayra recorded in Sahih Muslim, which relays the divine statement: قَسَمْتُ الصَّلاَةَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي نِصْفَيْنِ ("I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves..."), wherein the servant's recitation opens directly with الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ .
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