He followed a unique method of recitation that is well-known...

He followed a unique method of recitation that is well-known among the scholars of recitation.’ Then he (al–Najashi) linked his chain of transmission in the narration of the book to Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Abi Maryam, the author of Al–Lu’lu’ , on the authority of Aban, and added, ‘It opens with: The hamzah is a difficult letter….

’ In Al–Fihrist, Ibn al–Nadim has mentioned Aban’s works on recitation saying: “Among his books are Ma’ani al–Qur'an (Meanings of the Qur’an) which is a nice book, Kitab al–Qira’a (Book of Recitation) and a book on the principles of transmitting hadiths according to the Shi'ah school.” After Aban, Hamza ibn Habib, one of the seven famous reciters, wrote Kitab al–qira’a (Book of Recitation).

In Al–Fihrist, Ibn al–Nadim writes: “ Kitab al–Qira’a was written by Hamza ibn Habib who was one of the seven disciples of al–Sadiq , peace be on him.” In Kitab al–Rijal , Sheikh Abu Jafar al–Tusi also counted him among the disciples of al–Sadiq (‘a).

A document in the handwriting of Sheikh al–Shahid Muhammad ibn Makki related on the authority of Sheikh Jamal al–Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al–Haddad al–Hilli, reads: “Al–Kasa’i learnt the recitation of the Qur'an from Hamza, and he from Abu Abdillah, al–Sadiq who learnt it from his father (al–Baqir) who learnt it from his father, Zayn al–Abidin who learnt it from his father, al–Husayn who learnt it from the Commander of the Faithful, Ali.” This person, Hamza, learnt the recitation from al–A’mash also and the latter from Hamran ibn A’yun who were both among the Shi’ah masters as we will see in due course.

No one is known to have written about the methods of recitation before Aban and Hamza. Al–Dhahabi and others who wrote about the classes of reciters declare that the first person to write about the methods of recitation was Abu Ubayd al–Qasim ibn Salam who died in 224 A. H. There is no doubt that Aban preceded Ibn Salam because both al–Dhahabi in his Al–Mizan , and al–Suyuti, in his Al–Tabaqat have explicitly stated that Aban died in 141 A. H.

This means that he passed away eighty three years before Abu Ubayd. Likewise Hamza ibn Habib who, as they mentioned, was born in 80 A. H. and died in 154, 156 or 158 A. H., the last date being mere conjecture. In any case, the Shi’ah are the pioneers in the field of recitation. Al–Dhahabi and al–Suyuti were not unaware of that. They wanted to say that Abu Ubayd was the first Sunni to write about this subject.