Section: As for that which departs from the Uthmanic codex, such as the recitation of Ibn Mas'ud and others, it is not appropriate to recite it in prayer; because the Quran is established by way of mutawatir (successive) transmission, and this [recitation] has not had its mutawatir status established, therefore it is not established as being Quran. If one were to recite something of it from which the narration is authentic and its chain of transmission is connected, there are two narrations regarding it: First, one's prayer is not valid due to that. Second, it is valid; because the Companions used to pray with their [various] recitations during the era of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and after him, and their prayers were valid without a doubt. It has been authentically narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever loves to recite the Quran fresh as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm 'Abd" (9). The Prophet (peace be upon him) also commanded 'Umar and Hisham ibn Hakim when they differed regarding the recitation of the Quran, saying: "Recite as you have been taught" (10). The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to recite, before 'Uthman collected the codex, with recitations that he did not include in the codex, and they used to pray with them; none of them considered that to be forbidden, nor was their prayer invalidated by it.
Section: It is not disliked to recite the end of surahs or their middle parts according to one of the two narrations. A group narrated it from Ahmad; because Abu Sa'id said: We were commanded to recite with the Opening of the Book (Fatihah), and what is facilitated [thereafter]. From Abu Hurayrah, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to me: "Go out and call out in Medina that there is no prayer except with the Quran, even if it is just the Opening of the Book" (11). Both were extracted by Abu Dawud (12). This indicates that it is not specific [to the beginning], and that adding more is not required. It was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he used to
(9) Extracted by Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter on the Virtues of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), from the Introduction. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/49. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 1/7, 26, 38, 445, 454. (10) Muwaffaq al-Din combined here two hadiths: the hadith of 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud: "We argued about a surah from the Quran..." etc., in which it is mentioned: "Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) whispered something to Ali, and Ali said to us: 'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commands you to recite as you have been taught.'" And the hadith of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: "I heard Hisham ibn Hakim reciting Surat al-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)..." etc., in which it says: "Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: 'This Quran was revealed on seven ahruf (modes), so recite what is easy from them.'" See: Tafsir al-Tabari 1/23-25, and the takhrij (authentication) of the two hadiths in its footnote. (11) In Sunan Abi Dawud there is an addition: "and what is more." (12) In: The Chapter of One Who Neglects Reciting the Opening of the Book in His Prayer, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/188. The first [hadith] was extracted by Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 3/3, 45, 97, and it was also extracted by al-Bayhaqi, in: The Chapter of Restricting Oneself to Reciting Part of a Surah, from the Book of Prayer. Al-Sunan al-Kubra 2/60.
