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Why did the scholars differ on the establishment of the Basmala at the beginning of every surah—except for Barā'ah—even though the Qur'an is definitively established?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Muslim nation has unanimously agreed on the definitive authenticity of the Quran, and that whoever denies a single letter of it has committed an act of disbelief (kufr). However, they differed regarding the Basmala (Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim - In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful). Thus, whoever affirmed it or denied it was not deemed a disbeliever. The denier argued for its lack of continuous transmission (tawatur), while the affirmer sufficed with mere conjecture (zann). Imam An-Nawawi mentioned that the Basmala is Quran by way of ruling, and conjecture suffices for it. He also stated that the Basmala in Surat An-Naml is Quran by consensus, and whoever denies a letter from it has committed an act of disbelief by consensus.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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