Leading the prayer

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The people should be led in prayer by the one who has the most knowledge of the Qur'an." (Or: the one who has memorised the most of the Qur'an.)
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Riders used to come to us from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they would tell us that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let the one who knows the most Qur'an lead you in prayer." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: The hadith of Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) from his father is mentioned in the Sahih, and this is his hadith narrated from the riders.
Ahmad, al-Bazzar and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir recorded it, and the narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I went with my father to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of my people's acceptance of Islam. Among the instructions the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us was this: "Let the one among you who knows the most Qur'an lead you in prayer." The narrator says: I knew the most Qur'an among them, so they put me forward. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: This narration is recorded in the Sahih, narrated by the narrator from his father, and here it is narrated from the narrator himself; and Allah knows best.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The people should be led in prayer by the one who has the most knowledge of the Book of Allah Almighty (i.e. who has memorised the most of it)."
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains al-Hasan bin Ali al-Nawfali al-Hashimi, who is da'if (weak), though al-Bazzar declared it hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you travel, let the one who knows the most Qur'an lead you in prayer, even if he is the youngest of you in age; and when he leads you in prayer, he is also your leader (amir)."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever leads a people in prayer while among them there is someone who has more knowledge of the Book of Allah Almighty than him (i.e. who has memorised more verses than him), he will remain in lowliness until the Day of Resurrection."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains al-Haytham bin Uqab. Al-Azdi said: He is not known. I say: Ibn Hibban mentioned him in his book al-Thiqat.

Sayyiduna Wathilah bin al-Asqa' (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Form your rows, and let the most virtuous of you go forward (to lead you) in prayer, for Allah Almighty has chosen messengers from among the angels and from among people (i.e. human beings)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Ayyub bin Mudrik, who has been accused of lying.

Sayyiduna Marthad bin Abi Marthad al-Ghanawi (may Allah be pleased with him), who had the honour of taking part in the Battle of Badr, narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If it pleases you that your prayer be accepted, then let the best among you lead you in prayer, for they will be your envoys regarding what is between you and your Lord."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Yahya bin Ya'la al-Aslami, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: Sayyiduna Salim (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of Sayyiduna Abu Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), used to lead the Muhajirun in prayer when they came to Madinah. Among them were Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and other Muhajirun as well. The reason for this was that he knew the most Qur'an (i.e. he had memorised the most verses of the Qur'an). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
This narration is recorded in the Sahih, but without these words: "The reason for this was that he knew the most Qur'an."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Shu'ayb bin Abi al-Ash'ath. Al-Dhahabi says: He is majhul (unknown). I say: Ibn Hibban mentioned this narrator Shu'ayb in his book al-Thiqat and stated that his hadith is to be taken into consideration when there is no weak narrator in its chain and Baqiyyah bin al-Walid is not in it.

Qays bin Zuhayr narrates: I went with Sayyiduna Hanzalah bin al-Rabi' (may Allah be pleased with him) to the mosque of Furat bin Hayyan. The time of prayer came, and he said to him: Go forward (and lead the prayer). He replied: I would not go ahead of you when you are older than me in age, you emigrated before me, and this place of prayer is your place of prayer. Then Sayyiduna Furat (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say something about you, so because of that I will never go ahead of you. He asked: Were you present on the day I came to him? That was at the time of the campaign of Ta'if, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me out as a scout. The other replied: Yes! So Sayyiduna Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him) went forward and led them in prayer. Then Sayyiduna Furat (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O my son! Be quick, for I have put forward the one whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent as a scout to Ta'if. He then came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of the whole situation, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have spoken the truth. Return to your lodging, for you have stayed awake all night." When he had left, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: "Follow him and those like him."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its narrators have been declared trustworthy.