787 - Al-Walid said: Shayban informed me, from Mansur, from Ibrahim, who said: "When I say the Takbir, I say: 'Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik, tabaraka ismuka, wa ta'ala jadduka, wa la ilaha ghayruk (Glory is to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty, and there is no god other than You),' and I recite it silently. Then I recite: 'Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful),' and I recite it silently."

788 - Al-Walid said: I mentioned that to Khulayd, and he informed me that al-Hasan would not recite it [the Basmala] aloud. The person asking him said: "Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recite it silently?" Al-Hasan said: "If he had recited it silently in that which is recited silently, he would have recited it aloud in that which is recited aloud, but it is an 'A'rabiyyah' (an innovation/custom of the Bedouin)."

789 - Al-Walid said: "I say: If one recites it, it is good; and this is because of what:

790 - Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn Hafs informed us, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, that he would not omit the recitation of 'Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim' when he began the [recitation of] al-Hamd [al-Fatiha] and the Surah that followed it."

• I said to Ahmad: "A man prays voluntary (tatawwu') prayer of two rak'ahs; every time he opens the prayer, he says: 'Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik...'?" He said: "Yes."