Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 3493 — Those who said: the people are led

Sayyiduna Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We lived by a watering place, because of which caravans used to stop by us, and among them were some caravans returning from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I would go to them and listen to what they said, until I had memorised a large part of the Qur'an. People were waiting for the conquest of Makkah before accepting Islam. When Makkah was conquered, people came one after another to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, we are the delegates of such-and-such tribe, and we have come to you to inform you of their Islam." My father too came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to convey the news of his people's Islam. When he was about to return, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Put forward for the prayer the one among you who knows the most Qur'an." They looked around; at that time I was in a large room built by the water. They found no one who recited the Qur'an better than me, so they put me forward for the prayer. I was a young boy, and I used to lead them in prayer.