and their agreement was permissible. They are protected from agreeing upon misguidance, and this involved neither neglecting an obligation nor committing anything forbidden.”

Some of these scholars hold that the concession to recite in the seven modes applied in the early days of Islam, because adhering to a single mode initially caused them hardship. Once their tongues had become accustomed to recitation, and agreeing upon a single mode became easy and more accommodating for them, they unanimously adopted the mode used in the final review of the Quran.

They say: “All other modes were abrogated.”

Their position accords with that of those who say: “The readings of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, Ibn Masʿūd and others that differ from the written form of this manuscript were abrogated.”

As for anyone who claims that Ibn Masʿūd permitted paraphrasing the Quran in recitation, he has lied about him. Ibn Masʿūd merely said: “I have observed the reciters and found their recitations to be close to one another. It is simply like one of you saying, ‘Come forward,’ ‘Come here,’ or ‘Come.’ So recite as you have learned”—or words to that effect.

Those who permit reciting readings authentically transmitted from the Companions that depart from this manuscript say that this is permissible because they belong to the seven modes in which the Quran was revealed. Those who do not permit it have three grounds for their position: sometimes one of them says that it is not among the modes