While discussing ‘Uthman’s decision to unite the Muslims on a single mushaf in his famous explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari, al-haafidh ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani wrote:
وقد جاء عن عثمان أنه إنما فعل ذلك بعد أن استشار الصحابة ، فأخرج ابن أبي داود بإسناد صحيح من طريق سويد بن غفلة قال : ” قال علي : لا تقولوا في عثمان إلا خيرا فوالله ما فعل الذي فعل في المصاحف إلا عن ملأ منا ” قال : ما تقولون في هذه القراءة ؟ فقد بلغني أن بعضهم يقول إن قراءتي خير من قراءتك وهذا يكاد أن يكون كفرا ، قلنا : فما ترى ؟ قال : أرى أن نجمع الناس على مصحف واحد فلا تكون فرقة ولا اختلاف . قلنا : فنعم ما رأيت
It has been reported that ‘Uthman only did what he did after seeking the counsel of the sahabah. Ibn Abi Dawud reported with a sahih chain of narration by way of Suwayd ibn Ghafalah that ‘Ali said:
Do not say anything but good about ‘Uthman, for I swear by Allah that he only did what he did with the mushafs after consulting with us. He said, “What do you say about this qira’ah? For I have been told that some of the people are saying, ‘my qira’ah is better than your qira’ah,’ which is practically kufr!” We said, “What do you think we should do?” He said, “I believe that we should unite the people on one mushaf so that there will not be any splitting or differing,” to which they said, “What an excellent idea!”
[Fath al-Bari 8/635]
And later under the same discussion, ibn Hajr also included: