Reciting the Istiʿādhah and the Basmalah in Prayer
Variations of the Istiʿādhah
[After saying the opening invocation] the praying person should say the istiʿādhah. That is, he should say:
أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيم
I seek refuge in Allāh from Shayṭān, the outcast
If he prefers, he may say:
أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ السَّمِيعِ الْعَلِيمِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيم، مِنْ هَمْزِهِ وَنَفَخِهِ وَنَفَثِهِ
I seek refuge in Allāh—the All-Hearer, the All-Seer—from Shayṭān, the outcast. [I seek refuge from] his insanity, arrogance, and defamatory poetry.1 2
He may also suffice with:
أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ السَّمِيعِ الْعَلِيمِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ...