Azami 11788

Narrated by Tirmidhi (3954, and this is his wording), Ahmad (21606, 21607), and graded sahih by Ibn Hibban (7304), Hakim (2/229), and Bayhaqi in Dalail (7/147), all of them through various routes from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Abdul-Rahman bin Sahammasa, from Zayd bin Thabit, who related it. Its chain is sahih.Bayhaqi said, "This appears to mean the compilation of what had been revealed from the Book, the scattered verses within their surahs, gathering them within those surahs by the Prophet's ﷺ direction, and this was then preserved in the hearts."The second stage. Then Abu Bakr came and ordered Zayd bin Thabit to gather the Quran into a single volume following a single dialect, the dialect of Quraysh, relying on what had been written during the Prophet's ﷺ time on scraps of parchment, shoulder blades, and palm stalks, which was kept preserved in his ﷺ house, along with what he found preserved in people's memories that matched what was on those scraps. He gathered it in order to place it into a single volume after the battle of Yamama, for the reason mentioned.It has been related from Ali bin Abu Talib that he said, "May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr, he was the first to join the two covers together." Narrated by Ibn Abu Dawud in Kitab al-Masahif (p. 165) from Yaqub bin Sufyan, who said, "Abu Naeem narrated to us, Sufyan narrated to us, from Suddi, from Abd Khayr, from Ali bin Abu Talib," who related it. Its narrators are trustworthy.Completing this work took nearly a year, since between the battle of Yamama, which took place in the eleventh year and the early part of the twelfth year, and the death of the Siddiq, which was in the year thirteen, there is roughly one year. This copy then passed to the caliph who came after him, the Commander of the Believers Umar bin Khattab , and then this copy remained with the Mother of the Believers Hafsa bint Umar bin Khattab .It is certain that this copy had the verses and surahs arranged in order, just as the Prophet ﷺ used to recite them in the prayers. It has become clear from the hadiths concerning the Prophet's ﷺ recitation in prayers, which are mentioned in their proper places in Jami Kamil, that his recitation matched what exists in the copy of the Quran in our hands today, even though the order sometimes differed, as the companions stated regarding that. For this reason, the majority of scholars permitted reciting the Quran, whether in prayer or outside it, in an order different from that of the surahs, whether moving a surah earlier or later, though they said that doing so goes against what is preferable.Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ presented the Quran in its arranged order to Jibreel twice in the year he died, as mentioned in the sahih hadith of Fatimah, that the Prophet confided to her, saying, "Jibreel used to review the Quran with me once every year, and he reviewed it with me twice this year, and I see this as nothing but a sign that my time has come." The noble companions took the Quran from him following this order.As for those who claim that the ordering of the surahs in the Quran was the companions' own judgment, this is open to question. For the question presents itself, how was the Prophet's ﷺ final presentation to Jibreel , done twice, structured? Were the verses and surahs not arranged? Then how was Abu Bakr's compilation carried out? Were the verses and surahs not arranged in it? It is self-evident that the copy of the Quran was arranged, and Uthman bin Affan took it from that copy as it was, and it is what exists in our hands now.It has been established that Samura said, "The Quran was presented to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in several presentations," and they would say, "Our recitation is that of the final presentation." Narrated by Bazzar and Hakim with a sahih chain, as mentioned before. His statement "they would say" refers to the companions.Ubayda Salmani said, "The recitation that was presented to the Prophet ﷺ in the year he passed away is the recitation that people recite today." Narrated by Ibn Abu Shayba (30922) through Ibn Sirin from him.Ibn Sirin said, "Jibreel used to review the Quran with the Prophet ﷺ every Ramadan, and in the year he passed away, he reviewed it with him twice." He said, "So it is hoped that our recitation follows that final presentation." (Sunan Saeed bin Mansur, Kitab al-Tafsir, 1/239, no. 57).Baghawi said in Sharh al-Sunnah (4/526), "Zayd bin Thabit witnessed the final presentation, in which what had been abrogated and what remained were made clear. He wrote it down for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and recited it to him, and he continued teaching people to recite according to it until he died. For this reason Abu Bakr and Umar relied on him in their compilation, and Uthman appointed him to oversee the copying of the volumes."If what we have said is correct, then the reports found in books on the sciences of the Quran claiming that Uthman was the one who arranged the surahs are not correct, because these are later reports with no basis from the companions or their successors. The fact that the copies of Ubayy bin Kaab and Ibn Masud and others differed from the arrangement of Uthman's copy does not indicate that the arrangement of the surahs was Uthman's own judgment, because these men wrote their copies as was convenient for them. For example, Ali bin Abu Talib wrote his copy following the order of revelation, so it began with "Recite," then "Muddathir," then "Nun," continuing in this way through the end of the Makkan surahs and then the Madinan ones, since it is all Quran regardless, whether Surah Nisa comes before or after Al Imran. Likewise, some of them omitted certain surahs, thinking they were not part of the Quran, and their copies also contained tafsir notes on some verses. It is also possible that they had not seen the copy that Zayd bin Thabit wrote for Abu Bakr based on the final presentation, since Ubayy bin Kaab and Abdullah bin Masud were not members of the committee that Uthman formed to copy the volume.The third stage. Copies of the Quran multiplied in the time of Umar bin Khattab . Abdullah bin Masud had a copy from which he dictated to the people of Kufa. Ubayy bin Kaab had a copy, Ali bin Abu Talib had a copy, Ayesha had a copy, Ibn Abbas had a copy, Miqdad bin Aswad had a copy, Salim the freed slave of Abu Huzaifa had a copy, and other companions had copies as well, from which they dictated to their students. These copies contained differences in some readings, since the Quran had been revealed according to seven dialects to make things easier for the Muslims. This became one of the reasons for unifying the copy of the Quran on a single dialect, to remove this disagreement that had arisen among the Muslims.When this disagreement intensified, and people began accusing each other of error, and matters grew serious, and there was fear of discord, the Commander of the Believers Uthman bin Affan gathered the Muslims to deliberate on the matter. This took place around the year twenty-five.Ibn Abdul-Barr said in his biography of Zayd bin Thabit in al-Istiab, "When people disagreed over the recitation in the time of Uthman, and his opinion and that of the companions agreed that the Quran should be reduced to a single dialect, his choice fell on Zayd's version, meaning the copy that Zayd had written for Abu Bakr which had been with Hafsa. So he ordered him to dictate the copy of the Quran to a group of men from Quraysh whom he had gathered to him, and they wrote it as it exists today in the hands of the people. The reports about this are numerous and consistent in meaning, even though their wording differs." End of quote.Several copies were made in Uthman's time, and the reports differ regarding their exact number. The most sahih reports say there were five, and the more common report says there were seven. Uthman sent along with each copy one of the readers. He sent Abdullah bin Saaib to Makkah, Mughira bin Shihab to Syria, Amir bin Abd Qays to Basra, Abdul-Rahman Sulami to Kufa, and kept one copy with him for the people of Madinah. He sent these readers along with a copy of the Quran so that they could teach the Quran with a chain connected directly to the Prophet ﷺ, removing the disagreements in readings that had arisen among the troops on the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, which Huzaifa bin Yaman witnessed and reported to Uthman. The Commander of the Believers Uthman then ordered that every partial copy or complete volume held by some of the companions be burned, and people hastened to carry out his order.This is as reported by Ibn Abu Dawud in Kitab al-Masahif (1/187) from Musab bin Saad, who said, "I witnessed people gathered in large numbers when Uthman burned the copies of the Quran, and they were pleased by this, and none of them objected to it," except what is reported about Ibn Masud, that he did not carry out his order but instead instructed his companions to keep the copy they had. Allah then inspired him to return to Uthman's view, which in reality was the view of the entire community. However, the other readings spread from him through his students by way of oral transmission, and these were later circulated in books of tafsir and hadith.From these Uthmanic copies, other copies were made whenever the territory of the Islamic state expanded. In this way, the Muslims came to agree on the copy of the Quran that exists today, copied from the Uthmanic copies on a single dialect, and the Uthmanic copy became the reference relied upon by all Muslims.Qadi Abu Bakr Baqillani said, "The entire Quran that Allah Most High revealed, and which He commanded be recorded, and which He neither abrogated nor lifted from recitation, is what lies between the two covers contained in Uthman's copy. Nothing has been removed from it and nothing has been added to it. It has been transmitted by the later generations from the earlier ones, and it is the miracle of the Messenger ." End of quote (Nukat al-Intisar, p. 59).As for Hafsa's copy, it remained with her. When Marwan became governor of Madinah, he sent to Hafsa asking about the copy in order to burn it, fearing that some scribes might contradict others, but she refused to give it to him.Ibn Shihab said, Salim bin Abdullah told me, saying, "When Hafsa died, he sent to Abdullah with a firm demand that he send it to him. As soon as they returned from Hafsa's funeral, Abdullah bin Umar sent it to Marwan, who tore it apart and burned it, fearing that it might contain some difference from what Uthman had copied." Mentioned by Ibn Abu Dawud in Kitab al-Masahif (1/211).This is as he said, for when Zayd bin Thabit Ansari wrote the copy for Abu Bakr, he did so alone, whereas now a committee of four had been formed, one of them Ansari, namely Zayd bin Thabit, and the remaining three from Quraysh. It is possible that they differed over a word or two from Hafsa's copy and recorded it according to the dialect of Quraysh. Had that copy remained, disagreement and division might have arisen among the people, and this is why Marwan bin Hakam burned it.Through this, the truth of Allah's statement became manifest, "Indeed it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed it is We who will preserve it" [Hijr 15:9].The script of the Quran. The script used in writing the copy of the Quran was the script familiar to the Arabs in their writing, before the rules of orthography were later developed. The scholars of the earlier generations forbade writing the copy of the Quran according to the new orthography.Imam Malik was asked, "What do you think of someone who has a copy of the Quran written today, do you think it should be written according to what people have newly introduced in spelling today?" He said, "I do not see that as appropriate. Rather, it should be written according to the original script."Abu Amr Dani (d. 444 AH) said, after mentioning Malik's opinion above, "No one among the scholars of this nation holds a differing view on this." (al-Muqni fi Marifat Marsum Masahif Ahl al-Amsar by Dani, pp. 9-10).It is also related that Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said, "It is forbidden to depart from the script of the reference copy in a waw, or a ya, or an alif, or anything else."Bayhaqi said in al-Shuab (4/219), "Whoever writes a copy of the Quran should preserve the spelling with which those copies were written, not depart from it, and not alter anything they wrote, for they possessed greater knowledge, truer hearts and tongues, and greater trustworthiness than we do. It is not fitting that we should think ourselves capable of correcting them, nor of dismissing their work."Zamakhshari (d. 538 AH) said, "In the script, the preposition lam appears separated in the verse, "And they say, 'What is with this messenger that he eats food'" [Furqan 25:7]. It appears this way outside the normal conventions of Arabic writing, yet the script of the Quran is a fixed practice that is not to be changed." This has remained the practice of the Muslims to this day, and whoever departs from it, his departure carries no weight.As for the diacritical dotting of the Quran, nothing has been transmitted from any of the earlier scholars opposing this. Hasan and Ibn Sirin, among others, were asked about this, and they said, "There is no harm in it."Bayhaqi related in Shuab al-Iman (4/219) from Halimi, who said, "Since the dot itself is not something recited, one might otherwise imagine as Quran something that is not Quran. It is merely an indication of how the recited text is pronounced, so there is no harm in placing it for whoever needs it."The readings. It is a mistake to think that the seven readings well known today are what is meant by the seven dialects mentioned in the hadith, "The Quran was revealed according to seven dialects," because the Uthmanic copy was written in a single dialect, that of Quraysh. As for the readings, they are not limited to seven. In fact, the reliably transmitted readings reach ten, and Abu Ubayd Qasim bin Salam, Abu Hatim Sijistani, and Abu Jafar Tabari mention even more than that.Multiple readings were known during the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, received from his Lord by way of Jibreel, peace be upon him, and the copying of the Uthmanic volumes preserved these readings. So the people of each region recited according to what they had received from the readings of the companions and their successors, insofar as it matched the script of the copy. Some readings remained outside this script, and when the companions agreed on the Uthmanic copy, these readings came to be regarded as anomalous.It would be a mistake to say that these reliably transmitted readings originated from the Uthmanic script, for the Uthmanic script does not generate a reading, it only serves as a judge over it.As for the reason readings came to be restricted to seven, the transmitters from these leading reciters were numerous, but as capabilities declined over time, people restricted themselves, among what matched the script of the copy, to what was easiest to memorize and most precisely fixed in recitation.Suyuti said, quoting Makki bin Abu Talib Qaysi, "Ibn Jubayr Makki compiled a book on the readings before Ibn Mujahid (d. 324 AH), and he restricted himself to five, choosing one leading reciter from each region. He limited himself to this because the copies that Uthman had sent to these regions were five, though it is said he sent seven, these five, plus one copy to Yemen and one to Bahrain. But since no report was heard concerning these last two copies, Ibn Mujahid and others, wishing to preserve the number of copies, substituted two readers in place of the copies of Bahrain and Yemen to complete the count. This happened to coincide with the number mentioned in the report, and so it happened that whoever did not know the origin of the matter, and lacked insight into it, imagined that the seven dialects referred to were the seven readings. The foundation relied upon is the soundness of the chain in oral transmission, the correctness of the wording according to Arabic, and its agreement with the script." End of quote, from al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran (2/527).The fame of the seven readers goes back to Ibn Mujahid's book, al-Sabah. For this reason, when Baghawi mentioned in the introduction to his tafsir Maalim al-Tanzil the reading of Abu Jafar, the reading of Nafi, the reading of Ibn Kathir, the reading of Abu Amr, the reading of Abdullah bin Amir, the reading of Asim bin Abu Najud, the reading of Hamza bin Habib Zayyat, the reading of Abu Hasan Kisai, and the reading of Yaqub bin Ishaq Hadrami Basri, that is, nine of them, he said, "I have mentioned the readings of these men because of the agreement on the permissibility of reciting according to them."The scholars of hadith played a prominent role in preserving the well known readings through sahih chains connected to the Prophet ﷺ, since Allah Most High described him by saying, "Nor does he speak out of his own desire. It is nothing but revelation revealed" [Najm 53:3–4], and by saying, "And recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. There is no changing His words, and you will find no refuge besides Him" [Kahf 18:27]. So they made the soundness of a reading's chain one of the conditions for its acceptance, and accordingly they forbade reciting by analogy or personal reasoning.In the book al-Nashr fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr (1/46) by Ibn Jazari (d. 822 AH), it is stated, "The seven readings on which Shatibi limited himself, together with the three that are the readings of Abu Jafar, Yaqub, and Khalaf, are reliably transmitted and known to be part of the religion as a matter of necessity, and every dialect held individually by one of the ten is likewise known as a matter of necessity to have been revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and none but an ignorant person would dispute any of that."Among the readers around whom the readings revolved after the companions, in Madinah were Saeed bin Musayab, Muaz bin Harith, and Ibn Shihab Zuhri, in Makkah were Ataa, Tawus, and Ikrima, in Kufa were Alqama, Shaybi, and Saeed bin Jubayr, in Basra were Hasan Basri, Ibn Sirin, and Qatada, and in Syria was Mughira bin Abu Shihab Makhzumi, companion of Uthman bin Affan. From these men, these readings spread until they reached the readers by continuous chains of transmission.This is indicated by what is reported, that Asmai asked Abu Amr Basri (d. 154 AH) about two verses in Surah Saffat that are identical in script, namely the verses, "And We left for him among later generations" [Saffat 37:78] and "And We blessed him and Isaac" [Saffat 37:113], asking him how their pronunciation was known. He said, "This can only be known by hearing it from the earlier teachers." (al-Qiraat al-Sabah by Ibn Mujahid, p. 48).Famous among these ten readers are Nafi and Abu Jafar in Madinah, Abu Amr and Yaqub in Basra, Abdullah bin Kathir in Makkah, Abdullah bin Amir in Syria, Asim, Hamza, and Kisai in Kufa, and Khalaf bin Hisham in Baghdad. Here follows a brief biography of each, arranged by the year of their death.1. Ibn Amir Shami. He is Abdullah bin Amir bin Yazid bin Tamim, known by the kunya Abu Amr. He read under a number of companions, among them Muawiya, Fadala bin Ubayd, and Wathila bin Asqa, and from Uthman through Mughira bin Abu Shihab Makhzumi. Uthman bin Affan himself had recited to some of these men, some of whom in turn recited to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Ibn Amir died in the year 118 AH, and many read under him.2. Ibn Kathir Makki. He is Abdullah bin Kathir bin Abdullah bin Zazan bin Firoz bin Hurmuz Farsi Makki, born in Makkah in the year 45 AH. He met companions including Anas bin Malik, Abdullah bin Zubayr, and Abu Ayub Ansari. He read under Mujahid and Saeed bin Jubayr, both of whom had read under Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Abbas had read under Ubayy bin Kaab and Zayd bin Thabit, both of whom had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He died in the year 120 AH.3. Asim. He is Ibn Bahdala Abu Najud Khayyat Asadi Kufi. He read under Abu Abdul-Rahman Sulami and Zirr bin Hubaysh, both of whom had read under Abdullah bin Masud, Ali bin Abu Talib, Uthman bin Affan, and Zayd bin Thabit and Ubayy bin Kaab, all of whom had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He became the leading reciter of Kufa, and died in the year 128 AH. The most famous of those who took from him were,Shuba bin Ayyash Asadi Nahshali Kufi, born in the year 95 AH, who became an authoritative leader in recitation, and died in the year 192 AH.Hafs bin Sulayman bin Mughira bin Abu Dawud Asadi Kufi, born in the year 90 AH, one of the most knowledgeable of Asim's companions, who died in the year 180 AH.4. Abu Amr bin Ala Basri. He is Zabban bin Ala bin Ammar bin Uryan Mazini Tamimi, born in the year 68 AH. He read under a number of the successors, among them Mujahid bin Jabr, Ataa, Saeed bin Jubayr, and Ikrima, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, all of whom had read under Abdullah bin Ibn Abbas, who had read under Ubayy bin Kaab, who had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Abu Amr Basri also took from many others besides these. Ibn Jazari said, "None among the seven readers had more teachers than he did." He died in the year 154 AH.5. Hamza Kufi. He is Hamza bin Habib bin Ammara Zayyat, the freed slave of Ikrima bin Rabi Taymi, the leading reciter of Kufa after Asim. He read under Sulayman bin Mihran Amash, who read under Yahya bin Wathab, who read under Zirr bin Hubaysh, who read under Uthman, Ali, and Ibn Masud, all of whom had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Prominent men of Kufa read under him, among them Sufyan Thawri and Waki, among others. He died in the year 188 AH.6. Nafi Madani. He is Ibn Abu Naeem, the freed slave of Jawana, originally from Isfahan, of dark complexion, who lived a long life. He read under seventy of the successors, all of whom had read under Abu Hurairah, Ibn Abbas, and Abdullah bin Ayyash bin Abu Rabia, and all of them had read under Ubayy bin Kaab, who had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was the leading reciter in Madinah, born in the year 70 AH. Imam Malik and others read under him. He died in the year 169 AH. Among his most famous students were,Qalun, who is Isa bin Mina bin Wardan, the leading reciter of Madinah. Qalun was a nickname given to him by Nafi in appreciation of the quality of his recitation. He was born in the year 120 AH and died in the year 220 AH.Warsh, who is Uthman bin Saeed Misri. Warsh was a nickname given to him due to the extreme fairness of his complexion. Leadership in recitation in Egypt came to rest with him. He was born in the year 120 AH and died in the year 197 AH.7. Kisai Kufi. He is Ali bin Hamza the grammarian, of Persian origin, born in the year 119 AH, and died in the year 189 AH. He was nicknamed Kisai because he entered into the state of ihram wearing a cloak, kisa. He was one of the readers and the leading grammarian of Kufa. He read under Abu Ammara Hamza bin Habib Zayyat, who read under Sulayman bin Mihran, who read under Yahya bin Wathab, who read under Zirr bin Hubaysh, who read under Uthman bin Affan and Abdullah bin Masud, both of whom had read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Among the most famous of those who took from him were,Layth bin Khalid Marwazi Baghdadi, who died in the year 240 AH.Hafs bin Umar bin Abdul-Aziz Duri Baghdadi, the leading teacher of reciters, who recited under Kisai according to his dialect, and under Yahya Yazidi according to the dialect of Abu Amr, that is, Ibn Ala Basri, the leading master reciter. He lived a long life and wrote works on the readings. He was born somewhere in the fifties after one hundred and died in the year 246 AH.There were also three others whose readings were also regarded as reliably transmitted, bringing the total number to ten. Ibn Jazari, who died in the year 833 AH, compiled a work titled al-Nashr fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr, and these three were,8. Abu Jafar. Yazid bin Qaqa Makhzumi Madani, one of the ten readers, who took from Abdullah bin Abbas and Abu Hurairah, from Ubayy bin Kaab, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He died in the year 130 AH. Among the most famous of those who took from him were,Ibn Wardan, Isa bin Wardan Madani, one of the most distinguished and earliest companions of Nafi, who died in the year 160 AH.Ibn Jammaz, Sulayman bin Muhammad bin Muslim Zuhri Madani, who died in the year 170 AH.9. Yaqub Basri. He is Ibn Ishaq bin Yazid Hadrami Basri, one of the ten readers, born in the year 117 AH and died in the year 205 AH. He read under Abu Amr Basri, who read under Mujahid bin Jabr and Saeed bin Jubayr, both of whom had read under Abdullah bin Abbas, who had read under Ubayy bin Kaab, who had read under the Prophet ﷺ. Among the most famous of those who took from him were,Ruways, who is Muhammad bin Mutawakkil Luluyy Basri, who died in the year 238 AH.Ruh, who is Ibn Abdul-Mumin Huzali Basri the grammarian, who died in the year 235 AH.10. Khalaf. He is Ibn Hisham Bazzar Baghdadi, one of the ten readers, born in the year 150 AH and died in the year 229 AH. He read under Yahya bin Salim, who read under Hamza bin Ammara bin Ismail, who read under Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Layla, who read under Minhal bin Amr, who read under Saeed bin Jubayr, who read under Abdullah bin Abbas, who read under Ubayy bin Kaab, who read under the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Among the most famous of those who took from him were,Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Uthman Marwazi Baghdadi the copyist, who died in the year 286 AH.Idris bin Abdul-Kareem Haddad Baghdadi, born in the year 189 AH, who died in the year 292 AH.Ibn Mujahid, who is Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Musa bin Abbas bin Mujahid Baghdadi (245-324 AH), compiled on this subject his famous book al-Sabah, though in it he mentioned Ali bin Hamza Kisai in place of Yaqub Basri. Their reputation spread far and wide, and some scholars added the remaining three, bringing the total number to ten.The readers who took from these men throughout the Islamic lands afterward are too numerous to count, and their chains of transmission have continued down to this day. This is a distinguishing feature of the noble Quran that has not been granted to any other of the heavenly books, and the wisdom behind it is that Allah made this Book a light of guidance until the Day of Resurrection, and He undertook to preserve it from distortion and alteration.Scholars of recitation wrote valuable books on the readings, among the most important of which are al-Tadhkira by Ibn Abu Ghalbun Halabi (d. 399 AH), al-Tabsira by Qayrawani (d. 437 AH), and al-Taysir by Abu Amr Uthman bin Saeed Dani (d. 444 AH), and others.They set three conditions for accepting a reading. Ibn Jazari said, "Every reading that matches Arabic grammar, even by only one possible construction, and matches one of the Uthmanic copies, even by mere possibility, and has a sahih chain, is the sahih reading, which may not be rejected nor is it lawful to deny it." He said further, "I mean, by matching one of the copies, whatever was established in some of them and not in others. And in saying afterward, even by mere possibility, I mean whatever matches the script even by inference, since matching the script can sometimes be established as a direct match, which is explicit agreement, and sometimes as an inferred match, which is agreement by mere possibility." (al-Nashr fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr, 9-11).I say, all ten of the famous readings are possible within the Uthmanic script. Whenever one of these three conditions is lacking, the reading is considered anomalous even if its chain is sahih.An example is what Bukhari related in his tafsir chapter (4943) and Muslim in the chapter on the prayer of the traveler (824, no. 282), from Alqama, who said, "I entered Syria among a group of Abdullah's companions, and Abu Darda heard of us and came to us and said, 'Is there among you one who recites?' We said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Which of you recites best?' They pointed to me, so he said, 'Recite,' and I recited, "By the night when it covers" [Layl 92:1] "and the day when it shines forth" [Layl 92:2], and the male and the female. He said, 'Did you hear this from your companion's own mouth?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'And I heard it from the Prophet's ﷺ own mouth, yet these people refuse to accept it from us.'"In another wording, Abu Darda said, "I testify that I heard the Prophet ﷺ recite it this way, yet these people want me to recite, 'and him who created the male and the female,' and by Allah I will not follow them."A similar example is the hadith of Ibn Masud, who said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me to recite, 'Indeed I am the Provider, possessor of enduring strength,'" regarding the verse, "Indeed, it is Allah who is the Provider, the possessor of firm strength" [Dhariyat 51:58]. Narrated by Abu Dawud (3993), Tirmidhi (2940), and Ahmad (3741), and its chain is sahih. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith."These readings, even though their chains are sahih, are anomalous, because they contradict the general recitation that circulated among the rest of the companions, and also because they are not encompassed by the Uthmanic script. It is therefore not permissible for anyone to recite in his prayer, whether optional or obligatory, anything other than what is found in the copy of the Quran that has been unanimously agreed upon.In fact, Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said regarding one who recited in prayer according to the reading of Ibn Masud or another companion that contradicted the copy, that one should not pray behind him. Ibn Abdul-Barr reported the consensus of the Muslims that it is not permissible to recite according to an anomalous reading, and that one may not pray behind someone who recites according to it. (al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Quran, 1/333).Ibn Hazm said in Jawami al-Sirah (p. 271), after listing the names of the well known readers mentioned earlier, "There are also readings other than these, attributed to the well known leading reciters, that did not become widely known from them. It is not permissible to recite according to them, in the sense of teaching them, nor to pray according to them, nor should they be written into copies of the Quran at all."I say, there was indeed disagreement on this matter, but this disagreement ended with this consensus, and Nawawi and others also claimed there was consensus on this point.Likewise, it is not permissible to bear witness before Allah to anything other than what is in the copy of the Quran that has been unanimously agreed upon. There is, however, no objection to transmitting the other reports attributed to Ibn Masud, Ubayy bin Kaab, and others, which contradict the Uthmanic copy, in books of tafsir and hadith, in order to cite them in explaining the meaning of the Quran. However, their standing remains that of an anomalous reading, and for this reason they may not be cited as evidence before Allah , since that status belongs exclusively to the Uthmanic copy.Arabic script remained, from the time the revelation was first written down, without diacritical dots or vowel markings. When Islam spread from the Arabian Peninsula into the lands of non-Arabs, and it became difficult for non-Arabs to recite the Quran correctly, the practice of adding dots and vowel marks began. Most reports point to Abu Aswad Duali, who is Zalim bin Amr bin Sufyan (d. 69 AH), who was born during the years of prophethood, as the first to add dots to copies of the Quran. He had recited the Quran under Uthman and Ali , so it is most likely that his dotting matched the recitation of Uthman and Ali, even though the script of the copy remains open to the other well known readings as well.As for the reasons behind the introduction of dots and vowel marks, there are many, though these reports nearly agree on the presence of grammatical error in Arabic generally, and particularly in the recitation of the noble Quran. The Muslims from the easternmost to the westernmost lands thus came to agree on reciting the Quran according to a single unified pattern.