Is ‘Bismillah’ the first Ayah of Surah Fatihah and should it be read aloud in the Fard prayers? Why is Ayah 5 followed by Ayah 7 in Surah Fatihah in those Qur’an which do not list ‘Bismillah’ as the first Ayah of Surah Fatihah?

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

The people of knowledge differed about whether “Bismi Allahi Arrahmani Arrahim” is a verse in Surah Al-Fatihah or not.  The preponderant opinion is that it is a verse in the above Surah.

This is the Madhab of Shafi’e, and this is the opinion of Ahmad according to what he reported.  The evidence about this is what Al-Daraqutni reported from the Hadith of Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: “If you recite ‘Al-hamdu Lillahi Rabi Al-Alamin’, you have to recite ‘Bismi Allahi Arrahman Arrahim; this Surah is the mother of the Qur'an, and the mother of the Book, and the mother of the seven Mathani, and ‘Bismi Allahi Arrahmani Arrahim’ is one of its verses”.  Those who do not consider ‘Basmalah’ as a verse from Surah Al-Fatihah, they consider the sixth verse of the Surah to be ‘Sirata Alladheena An’amta Alaihim’ and consider the seventh verse ‘Ghayri Al-Maghdoubi Alaihim Wala Dhalleen’.

Allah knows best.