the function of ubayy b. ka‘b’s qarā’a (reading) in preference from among the seven qarā’as

with the ‘uthmānī muṣḥaf (copy of the qur’ān) having been inscribed and formalized, and upon the necessitation of reciting the qur’ān according to its orthography, the other muṣḥafs, including the muṣḥaf of ubayy b. ka‘b, gradually lost their competence. nevertheless, the ‘uthmānī muṣḥaf found its own qārīs (reciters) and qarā‘as and abū bakr b, mujāhid presented the qarā‘a of his own selection of seven qārīs in his al-sab‘a. on the other hand, when such great scholars as ibn khālawayh, makī b. abī ṭālib, zamakhsharī, shaykh ṭūsī, et al, sought to make comparison and to prefer from among the qarā‘as of the seven qārīs, they did not forget the qarā‘a of ubayy b. ka‘b; rather, on various occasions and by attesting to it, they confirmed an aspect of the seven qarā‘as’ aspects and regarded ubayy’s qarā‘a as authority for some of ibn mujāhid’s selection of seven qārīs. providing twenty examples of attestation to ubayy’s qarā‘a by the experts, the present research, by way of preference from among the qarā‘a of seven qārīs, fully confirms that the qarā‘a of ubbay has played an undeniable role in the process of recognition of the text of the qur’ān.