Highly Regarded in Hazrat ‘Umar’s (ra) Opinion
After the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Umar Farooqra often recounted this incident. Once, while standing at the pulpit in Masjid al-Nabawi [the Prophet’s Mosque], he said that the greatest qari was Ubayy (ra). Once, during his expedition to Syria, whilst in Jabiyah – which is a settlement near Damascus – he delivered a sermon wherein he said:
مَنْ اَرَادَ الْقُرْآنَ فَلْيَاْتِ اُبَيًّا
Meaning, “Whoever has a desire to learn the Holy Quran should go to Ubayy.”
(Sheikh Shah Moinuddin Ahmad Nadvi, Siyar al-Sahabah, Vol. 3 [Karachi, Pakistan: Dar al-Ishaah Urdu Bazar, 2004] 149) (Yaqut Ibn Abd Allah al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. 2 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi] 91)