Conversely, al-SuyUti reports that "al-Qac;a Abu Bakr says in his book al-Inti$lir:
A number of jurists and theologians have maintained that small sections of the Quran, transmitted through a single narration, can be lawfully considered part of it, though not with certainty. Such an opinion has been regarded as reprehensible by the people of the Truth [i.e., the Sunnis], and they have refused to accept it."٥
This view [expressed by] al-Qac;a AbU Bakr is evidently wrong for the same rea‌
son mentioned above-namely, that the existence of sufficient reasons for transmis‌ sion is in itself indisputable evidence of the falsehood of reports that are transmitted on the authority of one or two narrators. Thus, if we were informed by one person or two persons that a great king had arrived in a city, and if the arrival of that king in that city were something which normally was impossible to hide from the people, then we would have no doubt of the falsehood of this report if no one besides the one or two persons reported it. And since it was manifestly false, how could it bring about the effects which result from the kings arrival in that city? Similarly, if a part of the Quran were transmitted through a single narration, then this would be a definite proof that what had been-transmitted was not part of the divine speech. Since its falsehood is thus established, how can one follow the commands contained in it?
•At any rate, Muslims have never disagreed that the authenticity of the Quranic
text, as well as the fact that it is a divine speech, are both confirmed solely by unin‌
terrupted transmission.
This makes it clear that there is no interdependency between the uninterrupted transmission of the Quran and the lack of uninterruption in the transmission of the readings. This is because the evidence for the uninterrupted transmission of the Quran and its necessity does not in any way establish that its readings have been transmitted without interruption. Similarly, the evidence against the uninterrupted transmission of the readings does not in any way reflect on the uninterrupted transmission of the Quran itself.
Second, the best way to prove the lack of uninterrupted transmission of the read‌ ings of the Quran is to investigate the careers of the readers themselves, who are seven in number, as weH as of those who transmitted from them. To these seven we must add three, to make ten; we will tum to the three after we deal with the seven. [Indeed], we will give their biographies and investigate their circumstances one by one.

Abd Allah b. Amir ai-DimishqT

He was known by his patronymic, AbU Imran al-Yal) abi.
with al-Mughira b. Abi Shihab. Al-Haytham b. Imran says: "AbdAllah b. Amir was the leader of the people in the mosque during the reign of [the Umayyad] al‌ Walid b. Abd al-Malik. He used to claim that he was of the l:limyar stock, but used to be challenged in this claim." According to al-Ijli and al-NasaI, he was reliable. AbU Amr al-Dani says, "He was appointed chief judge of Damascus after Hila!b. Abi Darda.... The people of Syria regarded him as an authority for his reading [of the Quran] and his choice [of a variant reading]."٦ Further information about his career is provided by Ibn al-Jazari, who says: "Nine different narratives have been