Ayyub narrates from Abu Qilabah (may Allah have mercy on him): Amr bin Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) is alive; have you not met him? Go and ask him. Ayyub said: I met Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: We lived by a water spring through which people passed. Caravans would pass by us, and we would ask them about the affairs of the people. They would say: "He is a prophet; he claims that Allah has sent him and that Allah has revealed such-and-such to him." I would memorise those words, as if a longing for it had been planted in my heart. The Arabs held back from accepting Islam until the Conquest. They used to say: "If he prevails over his people, then he is a true prophet." When the Conquest took place, every tribe hastened to accept Islam, and my father went with his tribe to accept Islam. When he had been to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and stayed with him, we met him. When he saw us, he said: "I have come to you from the true Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He commands you to do such-and-such and forbids you from such-and-such, and he said: 'Pray in this way and at this time, and pray such-and-such prayer in this way and at this time. When the time of prayer comes, let one of you call the adhan for you, and let the one who has read the most Qur'an lead you in prayer.'" They looked among the people of our neighbourhood and found no one who had memorised more Qur'an than me, because I used to meet the caravans. They put me forward, and I was seven or six years old. I had a sheet on me that was small; when I prostrated, it would shrink up from me. A woman of the tribe said: "Will you not cover your reciter's backside from us?" So they clothed me in a sheet woven in Bahrain.
I was never as happy about anything as I was about that shirt.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب الصلاة / 5137