# The Only Surah Without Bismillah | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #5

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Pause and Reflect
**Published:** 2026-02-26
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/UsX5ENVLzpw
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/the-only-surah-without-bismillah-ramadan-pause-and-reflect-5
**Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia

## Summary
This lecture explores the unique distinction of Surat At-Tawbah as the only surah in the Qur'an without the Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim (the Basmala). The speaker explains that the most authentic reason for this absence comes from an narration found in Musnad Imam Ahmed and Sunan at-Tirmidhi, in which Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) asked Uthman ibn Affan (رضي الله عنه) about it. Uthman explained that Surat At-Tawbah was among the last revelations, and the Prophet (ﷺ) directed its placement alongside Surat Al-Anfal due to their similar content — both dealing with war, spoils, and hypocrites — leaving uncertainty about whether it was an extension of Al-Anfal or a separate surah. Beyond this practical explanation, the speaker draws out a profound spiritual insight: despite being the surah without Bismillah, it is still named 'At-Tawbah' (Repentance), reflecting the enduring mercy of the Prophet (ﷺ) as rahmatan lil'alamin. The surah opens with Allah's disavowal (bara') of the disbelievers and hypocrites, yet simultaneously extends an invitation to repentance (tawbah), even at the height of the Prophet's (ﷺ) political power — refuting claims that Islam became merciless once it gained authority. The speaker emphasizes that tawbah carries a sense of urgency; Allah sets the deadline, not the individual. Delaying repentance until Hajj, Umrah, or Ramadan is a dangerous complacency. Drawing on a saying of Ali (رضي الله عنه), the speaker concludes that the wisest scholar neither causes despair in Allah's mercy nor grants permission to remain in disobedience, and urges believers to read Surat At-Tawbah as a personal mirror rather than a condemnation of others.

## Key Points
- Surat At-Tawbah is the only surah out of 114 in the Qur'an that does not begin with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.
- According to an authentic narration in Musnad Imam Ahmed and Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Uthman ibn Affan (رضي الله عنه) explained that the surah was placed next to Surat Al-Anfal due to their similar content, and it was unclear whether it was a continuation or a separate surah.
- Despite lacking the Basmala, the surah is still named 'At-Tawbah' (Repentance), reflecting the Prophet's (ﷺ) enduring role as a mercy to all of creation.
- Surat At-Tawbah was revealed when the Prophet (ﷺ) had full political authority, yet it still contains an open invitation to repentance, refuting the claim that Islam became merciless with power.
- The surah carries two contrasting themes: Tawbah (calling people in to repentance) and Bara' (Allah's disavowal of persistent disbelievers and hypocrites).
- Tawbah has a sense of urgency — Allah sets the deadline for repentance, not the individual. Delaying repentance to a future event like Hajj or Umrah is spiritually dangerous.
- Ali (رضي الله عنه) said the best scholar is one who neither causes people to despair of Allah's mercy nor gives them license to remain in disobedience.
- The companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), despite being the furthest from hypocrisy, would tremble when hearing Surat At-Tawbah and would examine themselves for signs of hypocrisy.
- Believers should read Surat At-Tawbah as a personal reflection, asking what Allah is saying to them about their own delays and shortcomings.

## Transcript
**[0:00]** Tonight we transition from Surat At-Tawbah into Surat Yunus. And Surat At-Tawbah of course is distinguished in many ways. It's a hard hitting surah. This last chunk that was given to the Prophet (ﷺ) as a final warning to the hypocrites.

**[0:21]** And what is the immediate thing that you notice about Surat At-Tawbah? What distinguishes it from all of the other surahs of the Qur'an right away? It doesn't have Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim on it. It's missing the Basmala. There's no Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.

**[0:37]** And the question is why? Why doesn't it start — out of 114 surahs of the Qur'an, only one surah of the Qur'an is missing Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Now, before I get to the meaning and the way that Surat At-Tawbah unfolds,

**[0:57]** it's important to understand that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never stops being ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. He is ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, always. And when you open the Qur'an and you start to read or you read on your own, you start with the Basmala, you do so and there is not only no objection,

**[1:15]** but it's from the adab of the Qur'an that you enter into the recitation, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه), Habrul Ummah, the scholar of this Ummah, asked Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan (رضي الله عنه) why there was no Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim on Surat At-Tawbah.

**[1:35]** And so this is the most definitive answer that we have on this, and it's an authentic narration, it's in Musnad Imam Ahmed and Sunan at-Tirmidhi, and other places, that he said to him, how come there is no Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, because Uthman (رضي الله عنه) of course was commissioned with putting the Mus'haf into wide distribution,

**[1:55]** putting it together and putting it into wide distribution. And he said that Surat At-Tawbah was of the last things revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ), and the Prophet (ﷺ) used to say, put this here and put this here, put this here and put this here. And so they put it with Surat al-Anfal, which is one of the first surahs in Medina,

**[2:16]** because of the similarity in contents, and they didn't know if it is an extension of Surat al-Anfal, or if it is to be separated in and of itself. So it's actually fully a practical decision at that point. The placement of it makes perfect sense.

**[2:32]** In fact, if you're reading the Qur'an, and the divine placement of the surahs, you have obviously Surat al-Fatihah, you have As-Sab'a At-Tiwal, the seven long surahs, and then you get into Al-Anfal and At-Tawbah, and then you get into the stories of the Prophets.

**[2:47]** And if you read Al-Anfal through At-Tawbah, the content, the nature of what is being addressed, of the spoils of war and the hypocrites and things of that sort, extremely similar. It's a very similar flow, with Surat At-Tawbah being the second half of Surat al-Anfal in that sense,

**[3:04]** and that's very hard hitting. But, let's also go into something that's extremely profound here. There is, of course, something of the nature of the fact that this surah starts off with a disavowal. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala disavowing Himself.

**[3:21]** That He is bari'un min al-mushrikeen, wa rasuluh. That Allah azza wa jal disavows the disbelievers. He disavows the hypocrites, who have now completely been exposed in their hypocrisy. And He distances Himself, and the Prophet (ﷺ) is distanced from them as well.

**[3:36]** This is it. This is the final warning. I want you to pay attention to something so profound here. SubhanAllah, even though this surah is the one that's missing Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, it's still named Surat at-Tawbah.

**[3:53]** Even then, it's still the surah of repentance. And that in and of itself is a profound extension of Rasulullah (ﷺ) as rahmatan lil'alamin, as a mercy to the world. Because if you remember a few years ago, Pope Benedict, I believe,

**[4:09]** he quoted some medieval Pope suggesting that the Prophet (ﷺ) changed tune when he got to Medina, when he became powerful. That it started off as laa ikraaha fi'l-deen, but then once he had power, like there's no compulsion in religion, but then once he had power,

**[4:26]** then you had this new tone that was unforgiving, that had no mercy in it, that was to go after the people and to wipe them out. Surat at-Tawbah is when the Prophet (ﷺ) has full control of the political atmosphere.

**[4:42]** And still there is an invitation to repentance. Still there is laqad ja'akum rasoolun min anfusikum azeezun alayhi ma anittum hareesun alaykum bil-mu'mineena ra'oofun raheem. Still, there is an invitation to the hypocrites to come back,

**[4:57]** an invitation to the disbelievers to come back, an invitation to those that have spent a decade, if they're in Medina, or two decades, if they're still in Mecca and holding out, harming the Prophet (ﷺ), that you come back.

**[5:12]** And Allah azza wa jal yaqbal at-tawbah, Allah mentions qabool at-tawbah in the surah, that He accepts repentance. Allah azza wa jal is giving them all the invitations. In fact, if you read Surat al-Buruj, which highlights one of the most disgusting acts of genocide, right?

**[5:28]** Inna allatheena fatanoo al-mu'mineena wal-mu'minati thumma lam yatubu Those who put the believing men and the believing women to these horrific actions of test and trial and tribulation, and they don't repent, falahum 'adhabu jahannam walahum 'adhabu al-hariq

**[5:45]** Then they have the punishment of the fire, they have the punishment of hellfire, and they have the punishment of being burnt as they burnt, right? So still the invitation is there. And subhanAllah, this surah is named two things that actually suggest the opposite of each other.

**[6:05]** Tawbah is calling in, Bara' is distancing. And it shows you that when Allah azza wa jal invites to repent, He doesn't say repent when you're ready. And this is important for us when we talk about the uslub of da'wah,

**[6:20]** the way that we call people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. A person should not be comfortable and complacent in their disobedience of Allah azza wa jal. Ali (رضي الله عنه) said a beautiful thing. He said that the best scholar is the one who does not make people despair from the mercy of Allah,

**[6:37]** but also does not give them concession to disobey Allah. That's the best faqih. That's the wisdom. The wisdom of a scholar is to find that middle ground, where they don't make them despair from the mercy of Allah, but they also don't give them concession to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[6:52]** Tawbah is come in. Bara' is I'm done with you. And it's not repent when you're ready. It's you have four months. Like tawbah has an ultimatum here. That it's not an open invitation to keep on disobeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and then one day you wake up and you come back.

**[7:08]** No, tawbah has a sense of urgency. And if you think about all of the ahadith of the Prophet (ﷺ), about when tawbah is no longer accepted. It's when the sun rises from the west instead of the east. It's when a person starts to foam at the mouth at the time of death.

**[7:25]** Like you had all this time and then you say, Qala inni tubutu al-an Now I repent. No, no, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. You don't get to set the timeline of your tawbah.

**[7:40]** Tawbah has a sense of urgency to it. Tawbah is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala setting the timeline. Allah is setting the deadline. Allah is setting the ultimatum. And saying, you're already a day too late. You're already a year too late. You're already two decades too late.

**[7:55]** You don't have time to keep on dragging your feet. And it's important for us that when we approach Allah azza wa jal with tawbah, that we don't put these timelines that don't exist, that give us a sense of comfort. What do I mean by that? I'm going to quit this sin when I go to Hajj one day inshallah.

**[8:12]** I'll quit this sin in Ramadan. Some of us, we delayed some tawbah until Ramadan. I'll quit, you know, one day I'm going to go to Umrah, and then that's when I'm going to stop doing this or I'm going to start doing this. Who gave you this timeline that you can impose on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

**[8:27]** Where is the sense of urgency? That there is tawbah and there is bara' and there is a spectrum here. And on the Day of Judgment, there are those that Allah azza wa jal is bringing in, a najwa, having a beautiful, private, intimate conversation with.

**[8:42]** That Allah is shading under His throne. And then there are those that Allah azza wa jal does not even speak to. لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة So distanced from Him, as if they're being ignored, as they are taking their next step into punishment.

**[9:00]** You don't get to set the timeline of tawbah. And so what makes Surat at-Tawbah different, and I'll end with this just for the sake of time. What makes Surat at-Tawbah different, it's not just hard hitting. Allah azza wa jal is giving a final ultimatum. No more timelines that you get to set on the Prophet (ﷺ).

**[9:18]** No more saying, you know, give us this much time, give us this. No, no, no. This is it. This is your final chance. The gate is closing. Are you going to repent to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or not? The last thing that I say to us, dear brothers and sisters,

**[9:34]** when you read, subhanAllah, a surah like this, you know, the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ), who were the furthest from hypocrisy, Surat at-Tawbah would make their hair stand on their body. It's a scary surah because كُلُّهُمْ يَتَّهِمُ نَفْسَهُ بِالنِّفَاقِ

**[9:49]** As Qadi ibn Abi Layla said, each one of the companions accused himself of hypocrisy. When you read Surat at-Tawbah, don't think of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Think of yourself. What's Allah saying to me in my microcosm of signs of hypocrisy?

**[10:06]** In my delays of things that I know I'm supposed to be doing. What's Allah saying to me right now? Because the timeline has been set, and there should always be a sense of ultimatum. And Ar-Rahman, whose mercy is unlimited, did not give you unlimited time for repentance.

**[10:24]** And that's an important lesson for us, whether we're delaying to the last ten nights, or one day when we go to Hajj, or one day when we go to Umrah, or one day when this falls into place or that falls into place. And it's an important lesson for us in our uslub of da'wah, when we call people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,

**[10:39]** that we don't make people comfortable with their disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, while also not making them despair from the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah azza wa jal allow us to find that balance when we call others, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to find that urgency

**[10:55]** when He calls us back to Him. Allahumma ameen. Jazakumullahu khayran. A reminder again, dear brothers and sisters, please, this Saturday, especially with Dr. Afia, please do join our protest. Jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

## Other Episodes in "Pause and Reflect"
- [Singling Out the 27th Night for Worship? | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #12](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-12-singling-out-the-27th-night-for-worship.md)
- [Pay Attention to the Masjid Al-Aqsa Shutdown | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #11](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-11-pay-attention-to-masjid-al-aqsa-shutdown.md)
- [How Can You Despair of the Lord of Laylatul Qadr? | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #10](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-10-how-can-you-despair-of-the-lord-of-laylatul-qadr.md)
- [What If Laylatul Qadr Is The Wrong Night? | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #9](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-9-what-if-laylatul-qadr-is-the-wrong-night.md)
- [Sharia Takeovers and Middle East Chaos | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #8](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/ramadan-pause-and-reflect-8-sharia-takeovers-and-middle-east-chaos.md)
- [Why The Epstein Empire Attacked Iran | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #7](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/why-the-epstein-empire-attacked-iran-ramadan-pause-and-reflect-7.md)
- [How Am I Supposed To Feel About Israel vs. Iran? | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #6](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/how-am-i-supposed-to-feel-about-israel-vs-iran-pause-and-reflect-6.md)
- [One Small Sin That Tips the Scale | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #4](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-4-one-small-sin-that-tips-the-scale.md)
- [He Wrote on Himself Mercy | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #3](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-3-he-wrote-on-himself-mercy.md)
- [The Scholars Who Can’t Read | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-2-the-scholars-who-cant-read.md)
- [The Baqarah Challenge | Ramadan Pause and Reflect #1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/pause-and-reflect-ramadan-2026/pause-and-reflect-1-the-baqarah-challenge.md)