He also said—may Allah sanctify his soul:

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The Quran contained between the two covers of the codex is established by mass transmission. The Companions agreed upon these written copies and transmitted them as the Quran from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They have been transmitted by mass transmission since the time of the Companions, and we know with self-evident certainty that they have not been altered.

Any reading transmitted from the early generations and conforming to the codex may be used in recitation, without disagreement among the imams. The imams make no distinction between the readings of Abū Ja'far, Ya'qūb and Khalaf and those of Hamzah, al-Kisā'ī, Abū 'Amr and Nu'aym. None of the early generations or imams of this ummah said that recitation was restricted to the seven reciters.

It was only after three hundred years had elapsed since the Hijrah that Abū Bakr ibn Mujāhid collected the readings of these seven, and people followed his lead. His intention was to select the readings of seven reciters from the various cities. Neither he nor any of the imams said that any reading outside these seven was invalid, or that the Prophet’s words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

“The Quran was revealed in seven modes,”

referred to the readings of these seven. However,