Hadith 1980

Chapter 53

باب 53

(53) باب مَنْ أَحَقُّ بِالإِمَامَةِ

(53) Chapter: Who is more entitled to lead the prayer
371
وَحَدَّثَنِي زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَيُّوبُ، عَنْ أَبِي قِلاَبَةَ، عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ الْحُوَيْرِثِ، قَالَ أَتَيْنَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَنَحْنُ شَبَبَةٌ مُتَقَارِبُونَ فَأَقَمْنَا عِنْدَهُ عِشْرِينَ لَيْلَةً وَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم رَحِيمًا رَقِيقًا فَظَنَّ أَنَّا قَدِ اشْتَقْنَا أَهْلَنَا فَسَأَلَنَا عَنْ مَنْ تَرَكْنَا مِنْ أَهْلِنَا فَأَخْبَرْنَاهُ فَقَالَ " ارْجِعُوا إِلَى أَهْلِيكُمْ فَأَقِيمُوا فِيهِمْ وَعَلِّمُوهُمْ وَمُرُوهُمْ فَإِذَا حَضَرَتِ الصَّلاَةُ فَلْيُؤَذِّنْ لَكُمْ أَحَدُكُمْ ثُمَّ لْيَؤُمَّكُمْ أَكْبَرُكُمْ " .

Malik b. Huwairith reported:
We came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and we were all young men of nearly equal age. We stayed with him (the Holy Prophet) for twenty nights, and as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was extremely kind and tender of heart, he therefore, thought that we were eager (to see) our family (we felt homesick). So he asked us about the members of the family that we had left behind and when we informed him, he said: Go back to your family, stay with them, and teach them (beliefs and practices of Islam) and exhort them to good, and when the time for prayer comes, one amongst you should announce Adhan and then the oldest among you should lead the prayer.

Reference: Sahih Muslim 674 a

In-book reference: Book 5, Hadith 371

USC-MSA web (English) reference(deprecated numbering scheme): Book 4, Hadith 1423