بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Abū Hurayrah narrated: The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said,
لاَ صَلاَةَ لِمَنْ لاَ وُضُوءَ لَهُ وَلاَ وُضُوءَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَذْكُرِ اسْمَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ
The prayer of a person who does not perform ablution is not valid, and the ablution of a person who does not mention the name of Allāh (in the beginning) is not valid.
(Abū Dawūd 101, Musnad of Imām Ahmad 9418, al-Hākim 524.
Declared Hasan by Al-Albānī in Irwā 81.
Also declared as being Hasan or Sahīh by Ibn Kathīr in al-Irshād p. 50.
Declared Hasan by al-‘Irāqī in Muhajat al-Qurāb ilā Mahabat al-‘Arab 150.
al-Tirmidhī 25, Ahmad Shākir declared the chain of transmission as good, Hasan.
Imām al-Mundhirī mentions that the many ways of transmission are gathered together and gain strength (in terms of authenticity) – (Sahīh Targhīb 1/201)
Anas narrated: The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said,
تَوَضَّئُوا بِسْمِ اللَّه
Perform Wudū’ in the Name of Allāh.
(al-Nasā’ī 78 – declared Sahīh by Al-Albānī.
Al-Dāraqutnī 221 – declared Sahīh by Shu’ayb al-Arnaūt.
Sunan al-Kubrā of al-Bayhaqī 191 – who said ‘this is the most authentic on (what has been related regarding) the Tasmiyah [i.e. saying Bismillāh])
Imām al-Mundhirī said:
al-Hasan (al-Basrī), Ishāq ibn Rahwayh, and the people of al-Dhāhir held that it is obligatory to pronounce the name of Allāh during ablution, to the point that if one deliberately neglects it, he would have to repeat the ablution. And this was (also) reported from Imām Ahmad. (Sahīh Targhīb wa Tarhīb 1/201)
al-‘Adhīm al-Ābādī said:
al-Sha’rānī said in al-Mīzān: Dawūd (al-Dhāhirī) and Ahmad (ibn Hanbal) said: It (i.e. tasmiyah) is obligatory and ablution is not valid without it, whether done (i.e. left out) intentionally or out of forgetfulness. And Ishāq (ibn Rahwayh) said: If he forgets, his ablution is valid, otherwise it is not. (‘Awn al-Ma’būd 1/183).
Saying the Tasmiyah whilst in the bathroom
Q: What is the ruling on saying Adhkār (invocations and remembrances said at certain times on a regular basis) when performing Wudū’ (ablution) inside bathrooms?
A: It is an act of Sunnah to keep silent inside bathrooms and not to say Adhkār because this is a place for relieving oneself. However, if one is to perform Wudū’ inside bathrooms, one should say Tasmiyah (saying, “Bismillāh [In the Name of Allāh]”) at the beginning of Wudū’ for Tasmiyah is Wājib (obligatory) according to a group of scholars and, consequently, it is not to be neglected even if it is Makruh (disliked) to say anything in this place (washroom), for the obligatory act takes precedence over a reprehensible one. Hence, Muslims should say Tasmiyah upon starting Wudū’ when they wash their hands and before Madmadah (rinsing the mouth) and Istinshāq (sniffing water into the nose and then expelling it) or upon Madmadah or Istinshāq. To sum up, one should say Tasmiyah upon Wudū’ even if having to perform Wudū’ in the bathroom because saying the Tasmiyah is Wājib according to some scholars and a stressed Sunnah according to most of them. In accordance, it should not be neglected.
(Fatāwā of Ibn Bāz, Volume 29, 17 – Ruling on saying the Tasmiyah inside the washroom)
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