This argument is like that of someone who claims that if a solitary report does not yield certain knowledge on its own, it cannot yield certain knowledge alongside similar reports and corroborating evidence, thereby denying the certain knowledge attained through mass transmission.

It is also like the account related about Iyās ibn Muʿāwiyah: a man asked him, “What do you say about water?” He replied, “It is lawful.” The man asked, “And dates?” He replied, “They are lawful.” The man asked, “Then what about nabīdh?” He said, “It is water and dates.”

Iyās ibn Muʿāwiyah then said to him, “Tell me: if I struck you with a handful of earth, would I kill you?” He replied, “No.” He asked, “If I struck you with a handful of straw, would I kill you?” He replied, “No.” He asked, “If I struck you with water, would I kill you?” He replied, “No.” He asked, “Then if I took the water, straw, and earth, mixed them into clay, left it to dry, and struck you with it, would I kill you?” He replied, “Yes.” Iyās said, “The same applies to nabīdh.” His point was that what kills is the force produced by the combination, and what impairs the intellect is the intoxicating potency produced by the combination.

Likewise, in the present case, what intoxicates souls, distracts them, and turns them away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer may lie in the combination. Combined sounds are not like a single sound in their power to stir and agitate souls—whether through lamentation and grief, exhilaration and intoxication, or anger and fervour.

Consider the Quran, which is the word of Allah: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, encouraged beautifying the voice when reciting it, saying, “Adorn the Quran with your voices.”