he knows what he is reciting, he may try to imitate him but make a mistake, and then recite the Quran neither according to the reading in the copy of the Quran nor according to the recitation of the reciter whom he heard. This is harmful.

For this reason, Alī said, “Tell people only what they can understand. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be denied?” (1) Ibn Masūd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Whenever you tell people something their minds cannot comprehend, it will become a source of trial for some of them.” (2) When Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, heard Hishām ibn Hakīm recite a verse in a manner in which Umar had never heard it recited, he brought the dispute before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet said to Hishām, “Recite.” When he had recited, the Prophet said, “That is how it was revealed.” He then said to Umar, “Recite.” When he had recited, the Prophet said, “That is how it was revealed.” (3) This is because the Quran was revealed in seven modes, and people recited according to them until Uthmān, may Allah be pleased with him, brought them together upon a single mode when people began disputing over these modes. Fearing that the disagreement would intensify, he brought them together upon one mode—the mode of Quraysh, since the Prophet to whom the Quran was revealed was sent from among them—and the other modes were forgotten. If Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, reacted as he did toward a Companion, then what do you think of an ordinary person who hears you reciting differently from the copy of the Quran familiar to him? Praise be to Allah: since the scholars agree that a person is not required to recite according to every canonical reading, and that there is no harm in confining oneself to just one of them, steer clear of discord and its causes.