💬 Why is there no “بسم الله” before Surah at-Tawbah?

📖 The Companions of the Prophet ﷻ said that whenever the Prophet of Allah ﷺ ordered the Scribes of Revelation, to write down “بسم الله” first, before recording the rest of the verses, and we used to get the idea that a new surah had been revealed.

❌ But the Prophet of Allah ﷺ did not command them to write “بسم الله” before Surah at-Tawbah.

💭 The Companions of the Prophet ﷻ thought the previous surah had not been completed yet, till the Prophet of Allah ﷺ passed away.

📝 So, Uthman bin Affan discussed this with other Companions of the Prophet ﷻ and reached a unanimous decision to place Surah at-Tawbah after Surah Anfal, without writing “بسم الله”, because both Surahs have similar subjects and both had been revealed during the same period of time.

📚 Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Allah will not cause my ummah to agree on falsehood; the hand of Allah is with the jama‘ah (the main body of the Muslims).”
✨[Tirmidhi 2167]

✅ If all the Companions of the Prophet, who were his students, agreed upon this and no one raised any objection regarding this, then we have to believe that this is the Truth.

🔸Al-Suyuti quotes the Salaf (pious predecessors):
“By Allah! We believe that the Qur’an with us is in the same form as it is recorded in Lawh-al-Mahfooz (preserved Tablet) with Allah.”

💎 The consensus of the Companions of the Prophet ﷻ and the consensus of Ummah is free from error.