Hadith 1184

Abdullah ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: My father heard me saying 'Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem' in prayer, so he said to me, "O my son, avoid innovation, for I did not see any of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) who disliked anything in Islam more than innovation." He continued: "I have prayed with the Prophet (ﷺ), with Abu Bakr, with Umar, and with Uthman, and I did not hear any of them say it. So do not say it when you pray. Rather, say: 'All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.'" [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah] Imam Abu Hanifa also reported something similar. Al-Tirmidhi said: "The hadith of Abdullah ibn Mughaffal is a sound hadith, and most of the scholars from among the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), including Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and others, as well as the generation after them from the Tabi'un, acted upon it. Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubarak, Ahmad, and Ishaq also held this view. They did not consider it appropriate to recite 'Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem' aloud, but said that it should be recited silently." End quote.