Is the basmala a verse of al-Fatiha?

The basmala is written at the head of al-Fatiha in the copies of the Qur'an, but readers and jurists disagree whether it counts as one of its verses. This entry sets out the disagreement as al-Baydawi reports it in Anwar al-Tanzil. ¹

Al-Baydawi reports that it is part of al-Fatiha for the readers and jurists of Mecca and Kufa, and for Ibn al-Mubarak and al-Shafi'i; that the readers and jurists of Medina, Basra and Syria, Malik and al-Awza'i disagreed; and that Abu Hanifa said nothing explicit, so it was thought that for him it is not part of the sura, while Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, asked about it, said: what lies between the two covers is God's speech. ¹

Al-Baydawi argues for the first view from hadith, among them Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him)'s report that al-Fatiha is seven verses, the first of them the basmala, and Umm Salama's report that the Messenger of God ﷺ recited al-Fatiha and counted the basmala as a verse; he says these are why it was debated whether it is a verse by itself or together with what follows, and notes the consensus that what lies between the covers is God's speech and the agreement to write it in the copies. ¹ The basmala at the head of Surat al-Tawba is a separate question; see Why does Surat al-Tawba not open with the basmala?.

Ibn al-Jawzi says in Zad al-Masir that Ibn Umar said it was revealed in every sura, and that there are two narrations from Ahmad on whether it is a complete verse and two on whether it belongs to al-Fatiha. ² Whoever counts it part of al-Fatiha makes reciting it in prayer obligatory where he holds al-Fatiha obligatory; whoever does not counts reciting it a sunna — except Malik, who does not recommend reciting it in prayer. ² On saying it aloud in the audible prayers, a group report from Ahmad that this is not a sunna, the view of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ammar, Ibn Mughaffal, Ibn al-Zubayr and Ibn Abbas, and among the Successors al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Ibrahim, Qatada, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, al-A'mash and Sufyan al-Thawri, held also by Malik, Abu Hanifa and Abu Ubayd; al-Shafi'i held that saying it aloud is a sunna, as is reported from Mu'awiya, Ata', Tawus and Mujahid. ^{2 3}