, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Whoever recites the Quran with correct vocalization will receive ten good deeds for every letter.”

Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: “Preserving the Quran’s correct vocalization is dearer to us than preserving some of its letters.”

When Muslims write a copy of the Quran, they may leave it without letter dots or vowel marks if they wish. The Companions likewise wrote copies without dots or vowel marks, for they were Arabs who did not make grammatical errors. Such were the copies that ʿUthmān, may Allah be pleased with him, sent to the provincial cities during the time of the Successors. Then “grammatical errors” became widespread, so dots were added to the copies, and vowels were marked with red dots. Later, vowel marks resembling the written letters were used.

The scholars disagreed over whether this was disliked. Differing views are reported from Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—and other scholars. Some held that it was disliked because it was an innovation; others held that it was not disliked because it was needed. Still others held that letter dots were disliked, but not vowel marks, since these clarify the vocalization. The correct view is that there is nothing wrong with it.

Also included is affirming what is established from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: that Allah speaks with a voice and calls to Adam, peace be upon him, with a voice, together with other hadiths of this kind. These, collectively, were the beliefs held by the early generations of the Muslim community and the leading scholars of the Sunnah.

The leading scholars of the Sunnah said:

“The Quran is the speech of Allah Most High, uncreated, wherever it is recited and wherever