Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

Sayyiduna Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we lived in a place where people would come and go. Therefore, when caravans passed by us on their return from the service of the Prophet (peace be upon him), I would go near them and listen to (the Qur’an) from them, until I memorized a great deal of the Qur’an. He says that people were waiting for the conquest of Makkah to accept Islam. When Makkah was conquered, people began to present themselves before the Prophet (peace be upon him). A man would come and say, “O Messenger of Allah! I am the envoy of such-and-such tribe and have come to you with the news of their acceptance of Islam.” Thus, my respected father also went with the news of his people’s acceptance of Islam, and when he returned, he said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has commanded that you should appoint as your imam the one who knows the most Qur’an among you. He says that people pondered and consulted about this (as to whom to appoint as imam) while I was in the village. In the narration of Duraqi, it is mentioned: I was in a great village. So, they did not find anyone who knew more Qur’an than me. Therefore, they made me their imam even though I was a young boy. So I led them in prayer. I had a single sheet wrapped around me. When I bowed or prostrated, my private parts would become exposed. When we completed the prayer, an elderly woman said, “Cover your reciter’s private parts from us.” He says that they made a shirt for me. The narrator says: I think he said that they made a shirt for me from a Bahraini izar-band. It is also mentioned that he was extremely happy upon receiving that shirt. In the narration of Duraqi, it is stated: “The one among you who knows the most Qur’an should lead your prayer.”