(3) From what has been mentioned above...

(3) From what has been mentioned above, it can be concluded that a definite majority of the Ahlus Sunnah are also of the belief that Bismillah is a part of every chapter. We present below a few of the traditions that have been narrated by means of the Sunni and Shi’ite chains of narrators (and confess that mentioning all the traditions that exist in this regard is beyond the scope of this work and more suited to a full-fledged jurisprudential discussion on the issue.) i. Mua’wiyah b.

‘Ammar, one of the companions of Imam as-Sadiq (a.s) says: “I asked the Imam (a.s): ‘When I stand for prayers, should I recite ‘Bismillah’ at the beginning of Suratul Hamd?’ The Imam said: ‘Yes’. I questioned him once again: ‘When al-Hamd is completed and I have to recite another chapter after it, do I have to recite ‘Bismillah’? Again he (a.s) said: ‘Yes.’” (4) ii.

Dar Qutni, a Sunni scholar, upon the authority of an authentic chain of narrators, reports that a person approached Imam ‘Ali (a.s) and asked: “What is the ‘al-Saba’ al-Mathani?’” (5) The Imam (a.s) replied: “It is Suratul Hamd.” The person said: ”(But) Suratul Hamd has (only) six verses.” Whereupon he (a.s) said: “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim is also one of its verses.” (6) iii.

How is it possible that the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a) and the other Muslims would recite something that was not part of the Qur`an and persevere in this act of theirs? The notion that some people have stated about Bismillah being an independent verse and a part of the Quran but not a part of the chapters is one which appears to be feeble and baseless.

This is because the meaning and contents of Bismillah indicate that it is for starting or initiating a task and not that it possesses a meaning that is independent.