Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever does not recite Surah Al-Fatihah while praying, his prayer is not complete, not complete." The narrator states: I said, "O Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah! Sometimes I am following the Imam." He pressed something against my shin and said, "Then recite it in your heart, because I heard the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say this: 'Allah Almighty says: I have divided the recitation in prayer between Myself and My servant into two parts. Half of it is for Me. My servant, at the beginning of the prayer, recites Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem, so My servant mentions Me. Then he says: 'Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alameen,' so I say: My servant has praised Me. Then he says: 'Ar-Rahman,' so I say: My servant has extolled Me. Then he says: 'Malik,' so I say: My servant has glorified Me. Then he says: 'Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'een,' so this verse is divided between Me and My servant into two parts. The last part of the Surah is for My servant, and whatever My servant asks for, he will be granted.'" The narrator named Ibn Sam'an, may Allah have mercy on him, is Abdullah bin Sam'an, and this person is abandoned in hadith. A group of trustworthy narrators has transmitted this hadith from 'Ala bin Abdur Rahman, may Allah have mercy on him. Among these narrators are Imam Malik bin Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, Shaykh Ibn Jurayj, may Allah have mercy on him, Shaykh Ruh bin Qasim, may Allah have mercy on him, Shaykh Ibn 'Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, Ibn 'Ajlan, may Allah have mercy on him, Hasan bin Hur, may Allah have mercy on him, Abu Awais, may Allah have mercy on him, and others. These individuals have reported differences in the chain of narration of this report, however, they agree on the text. Not a single one of them has mentioned the words "Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem" in their narration. So, the unanimous contrary narration of all these individuals to the narration transmitted by Ibn Sam'an, may Allah have mercy on him, should be considered correct; and Allah Almighty knows best.