It was narrated from Ubayy bin Ka'b that: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was by a pond belonging to Banu Ghifar when Jibril, peace be upon him, came to him and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with one way of recitation". He said: "I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that". Then he came to him a second time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with two ways of recitation". He said: ""I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that". Then he came to him a third time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with three ways of recitation". He said: "I ask my Lord for protection and forgiveness, my Ummah cannot bear that". Then he came to him a fourth time and said: "Allah commands you to teach your Ummah the Quran with seven ways of recitation, and whichever the way they recite it will be correct".
The Prophet Muhammad's reluctance in teaching the Ummah more than one way of reciting the Quran shows his concern for their well-being and his desire to make sure they are able to understand what they are learning without difficulty or confusion. He knew that if he taught them too many different ways of reciting it, then it would be hard for them to remember all of them and could lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Therefore, he asked Allah multiple times before finally being granted permission from Him to teach seven different ways of reciting the Quran so as not overwhelm his Ummah but still give them enough options so as not limit their understanding either.
