Recently I was appointed as an imam in a mosque, temporarily, and I started to lead the people in prayer. According to the best of my knowledge, there are two opinions regarding the matter of saying the basmalah (i.e., the phrase “Bismillah ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)”) out loud in the prayer, and the more correct opinion is that it is not to be said out loud, so I did not say it out loud. But the people are upset about that and they have started to talk about this and complain behind my back; they are saying: “Why does this imam not say the basmalah? He should do the same as the other imams who came before.” They also criticise me for not reciting some soorahs that are customarily recited on certain days, such as reciting Soorat al-Falaq and an-Naas in Maghrib prayer on Fridays. I am trying to ignore such matters, but I do not want to stir up trouble or be a cause of trouble being stirred up. I can easily resign from this position and delegate it to someone else, because it is a temporary post after all.

Please advise me:

Can I say the basmalah out loud in the prayer or not?
Can I recite those soorahs that they are used to hearing? Or should I give up this post altogether?


Praise be to Allah.

Firstly: 

We appreciate your keenness to follow the
Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in his
prayer, and we appreciate your asking for the ruling on going along with the
worshippers in that which they are used to. You have done well, because some
of those who follow the Sunnah think that they do not need to be gentle or
kind when advising people! Even if the application of the Sunnah – according
to what they think is more correct – causes trouble and creates enmity and
division among the Muslims, they do not hesitate to insist on applying it,
no matter what the negative consequences to which that may lead. Undoubtedly
this is wrong and it is not the way of the leading scholars of Ahl
as-Sunnah, in the past or more recently, as we shall see below. 

Secondly: 

Undoubtedly saying the basmalah out loud in
al-Faatihah in the prayer is permissible; it is not a bid‘ah (innovation) or
haraam. But most of the time in his prayer, the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) did not pronounce it out loud; rather he recited it
quietly. 

It was narrated from Anas (may Allah be
pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him), and Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) began the
prayer with the words “Al-hamdu Lillahi Rabbi l-‘Aalameen (Praise be
to Allah, Lord of the Worlds).”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (743) 

According to a report narrated by Ahmad
(12868), “They did not recite out loud the words ‘Bismillah ir-Rahmaan
ir-Raheem (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most
Merciful).’” 

This is the view of the Hanafis and
Hanbalis. The Shaafa‘is differed from them and said that it is Sunnah to
recite it out loud, even though the proven Sunnah is not to recite the
basmalah out loud. But there is nothing wrong with reciting it out loud,
especially if their madhhab is that it is to be recited out loud, so as to
soften their hearts. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

… Nevertheless the correct view is that it
is not to be recited out loud, although it is prescribed to recite it out
loud if that serves a definite interest. Hence it is prescribed for the imam
to do that – sometimes – for example, to teach the people who are praying
behind him. It is permissible for the worshippers to recite a few words out
loud sometimes, and it is also permissible for a man to forego something
that is preferable, in order to soften hearts and unite people, lest they be
put off from what is in their best interests. For example, the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) decided not to rebuild the Ka‘bah
on the foundations of Ibraaheem, because Quraysh had only recently left
Jaahiliyyah behind (and were new in Islam), and he was worried that they may
be put off by that. He thought that the issue of uniting people and
softening their hearts took precedence over the issue of rebuilding the
Ka‘bah on the foundations of Ibraaheem. Ibn Mas‘ood said, when he offered
the prayer in full behind ‘Uthmaan, although he disliked that and objected
to him about it, and he was questioned about that: “Dissent is evil.” Hence
the imams or leading scholars, such as Ahmad and others, stated that the
same applies in the case of the basmalah, and praying Witr as three
continuous rak‘ahs, and other issues in which one may turn from that which
is preferable to that which is permissible in the interests of softening the
hearts or the obligation of teaching them the Sunnah, and so on.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(22/436, 437). 

He (may Allah have mercy on) also said: One
may refrain from doing that which is preferable in one’s own opinion, lest
the people be put off. The same applies if a man thinks that the basmalah
should be recited out loud, but he is leading some people in prayer who do
not think that that is recommended, or vice versa; if he goes along with
them, that is fine. 

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(22/268, 269). 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen
(may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

What is the ruling on reciting the basmalah
out loud? 

He replied:

The more correct view is that the basmalah
should not be recited out loud, and that the Sunnah is to recite it quietly,
because it is not part of al-Faatihah. But if it is recited out loud
sometimes, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact some of the scholars
said that it should be recited out loud sometimes, because it was recited
from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he used to
recite it out loud. But what is proven from him (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) is that he did not recite it out loud, and this is the
preferred view, that he did not recite it out loud. 

But if (the imam) recites it out loud in
order to soften the hearts of people whose madhhab says that it is to be
recited out loud, then I hope that there is nothing wrong with that.

End quote from Majmoo‘ Fataawa ash-Shaykh
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (13/109) 

Based on that, it is permissible for you to
recite the basmalah out loud for those people, either all the time or
occasionally, in order to achieve the greater interest, which is to soften
their hearts, bring them together and unite them. You could also make the
most of this opportunity to teach them something which is more important
than practical matters of fiqh, namely Tawheed (affirmation of the Oneness
of Allah) and that which nullifies it, and shirk (association of others with
Allah) and that which lead to it. Your staying and reciting the basmalah out
loud is undoubtedly better for the people than leaving them and letting your
place be taken by an ignorant imam who may mislead the people, lead them
into ignorance and divert them from sound Islamic knowledge. 

Thirdly: 

There is nothing wrong with always reciting
certain soorahs and verses in certain prayers, in two cases: 

1.    
If it is proven that it is prescribed to always recite them in
certain prayers, such as Soorat as-Sajdah and al-Insaan in Fajr prayer on
Friday. Based on that, there is nothing wrong with always reciting these
prayers in Fajr every Friday.

Please see the answer to
question no. 121175

2.    
When there is no proof that it is prescribed to always recite them,
such as if the imam always recites the final verses of Soorat al-Baqarah in
Maghrib. The Sunnah is that it is not prescribed to always do that, because
that is contrary to the practice of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him), which was to vary the soorahs recited – please see the
answer to question no. 148634 – and lest the
ignorant think that this was mustahabb – let alone obligatory – in every
Maghrib prayer. 

Even though this is the Sunnah, there is no
reason why you should not recite what they are used to and always do that
for a while, in order to unite the worshippers and not cause division among
them, and in order to close the door to any leader of bid‘ah who may seek to
misguide them, and in order to endear you and the methodology that you
follow to them, so that you may teach them to love the Sunnah and act in
accordance with it. With the passage of time, you will be able to phase out
that continual practice, as other seekers of knowledge have done in similar
cases with worshippers who go against the Sunnah. 

Please see the answers to questions no.
111223 and 152874 

And Allah knows best.