Ruling on seeking refuge with Allaah before reciting al-Faatihah in the prayer
Question

                What is the ruling on seeking refuge with Allaah before reciting al-Faatihah in the prayer? Is it obligatory or mustahabb?.
Praise be to Allah.Firstly: 
It is proven 
    that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to 
    seek refuge with Allaah before reciting al-Faatihah in the prayer. Narrated 
    by Abu Dawood (775) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. 
Secondly: 
The scholars 
    differed as to the ruling on seeking refuge with Allaah before reciting 
    al-Faatihah in the prayer. Some of them were of the view that it is 
    obligatory. This is the view of ‘Ata’, al-Thawri, al-Awzaa’i and Dawood, as 
    was narrated by Ibn Hazm in al-Muhalla (3/247-248), and it was the 
    view favoured by him. It was also narrated from Ahmad and was favoured by 
    Ibn Battah, as it says in al-Insaaf (2/119). Among later scholars 
    this view was favoured by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on them 
    all).  
Others were 
    of the view that it is only mustahabb and is not obligatory. This is the 
    view of the majority of scholars among the Sahaabah and Taabi’een and of the 
    Imams Abu Haneefah and al-Shaafa’i, and Ahmad according to the well known 
    view of his madhhab. 
See: 
    Tabyeen al-Haqaa’iq (1/107); al-Majmoo’ (3/280-282), al-Mughni 
    (1/283); al-Fataawa al-Kubra by Ibn Taymiyah (5/332). 
Those who 
    say that it is obligatory quoted as evidence the verse in which Allaah says 
    (interpretation of the meaning): 
“So when 
    you want to recite the Qur’aan, seek refuge with Allaah from Shaytaan 
    (Satan), the outcast (the cursed one)”
[al-Nahl 
    16:98]
They said: 
    In this verse there is the command to seek refuge with Allaah, and the basic 
    principle is that a command means that something is obligatory, so long as 
    there is no other evidence to indicate that what is meant in the command is 
    mustahabb. 
Ibn Hazm 
    said in al-Muhalla (2/279): 
With regard 
    to the view of Abu Haneefah and al-Shaafa’i, that seeking refuge with Allaah 
    is not obligatory, this is wrong, because Allaah, may He be exalted, says:
    “So when you want to recite the Qur’aan, seek refuge with Allaah from 
    Shaytaan (Satan), the outcast (the cursed one)”. When Allaah commands 
    something, it is wrong for anyone to say without any evidence from the 
    Qur’aan or Sunnah that this is not obligatory, especially His command to 
    pray for Him to protect us from the tricks of the shaytaan.  So this command 
    is definitely obligatory, because avoiding the shaytaan and fleeing from him 
    and asking for protection against him are things that no one can dispute are 
    obligatory. Moreover, Allaah has enjoined that upon us when reading Qur’aan. 
    End quote. 
The majority 
    of scholars responded by noting that there is other evidence which indicates 
    that it is mustahabb rather than obligatory. This other evidence is: 
1 – The 
    hadeeth about the man who did not pray properly. The Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught him how to pray and said: “When you 
    go to pray, say takbeer, then recite whatever you can of the Qur’aan. Then 
    bow …” Narrated by al-Bukhaari and Muslim (397). And he did not tell him to 
    seek refuge with Allaah. 
Imam 
    al-Shaafa’i said in al-Umm (1/208): 
If he omits 
    it by mistake or out of ignorance or deliberately, he does not have to 
    repeat it or do the prostration of forgetfulness, but I regard it as makrooh 
    to omit it deliberately. If he omits it in the first rak’ah, I prefer for 
    him to say it in some other rak’ah. The only thing that keeps me from 
    telling him to repeat the prayer is the fact that when the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught a man what is sufficient 
    in prayer he said: “say takbeer, then recite…”, and it is not narrated that 
    he told him to seek refuge with Allaah or recite the opening du’aa’. This 
    indicates that the Messenger of Allaah  (peace and blessings of Allaah 
    be upon him) regarded the opening du’aa’ as something optional, and that 
    seeking refuge with Allaah is something that does not invalidate the prayer 
    if it is omitted. End quote. 
2 –It says 
    in al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (4/6): 
The majority 
    quoted as evidence that the command means that it is recommended and not 
    obligatory the fact that the salaf were unanimously agreed that it is 
    Sunnah. End quote.  
The scholars 
    of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas also favoured the view that it 
    is mustahabb and not obligatory, as did Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen. 
It says in
    Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (6/383): 
What is the 
    ruling on one who forgets to seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed 
    shaytaan and remembers after finishing the prayer, if he remembers that he 
    did not say A’oodhu Billaahi min al-shaytaan il-rajeem (I seek refuge 
    with Allaah from the accursed shaytaan) whilst he was praying? 
They 
    replied: 
Seeing 
    refuge with Allaah is Sunnah, and it does not matter if it is omitted from 
    the prayer whether deliberately or by mistake. End quote. 
Shaykh Ibn 
    ‘Uthaymeen was asked: Should one seek refuge with Allaah in every rak’ah or 
    only in the first rak’ah? 
He replied: 
Seeking 
    refuge with Allaah from the accursed shaytaan in prayer is Sunnah. 
The scholars 
    (may Allaah have mercy on them) differed as to whether one should seek 
    refuge with Allaah in every rak’ah or only in the first rak’ah, based on the 
    recitation in prayer – is it regarded as one recitation or is the recitation 
    in each rak’ah separate? 
It seems to 
    me that the recitation in prayer is one recitation, so one should seek 
    refuge with Allaah in the first rak’ah, unless there happens something that 
    requires seeking refuge with Allaah, such as if there come whispers from the 
    shaytaan (waswaas), because if whispers come from the shaytaan, the 
    Messenger  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined spitting 
    drily to the left three times and seeking refuge with Allaah from the 
    accursed shaytaan. End quote. 
Majmoo’ 
    Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (13/110) 
This view is 
    also favoured in the answer to question no. 
    65847. 
And Allaah 
    knows best.