English narration
Narrated by مالك بن الحويرث الليثي
Malik bin al-Huwairith said that the Prophet ﷺ told him or some of his companions: When the time of prayer comes, call the Adhan, then call the iqamah, then the one who is oldest of you should act as your imam. The version narrated by Maslamah goes: He said: On that day we were almost equal in knowledge. The version narrated by Ismail says: Khalid said: I said to Abu Qilabah: where is the Quran (i. e. why did the Prophet ﷺ not say: The one who knows the Quran most should act as imam)? He replied: Both of them were equal in the knowledge of the Quran.
النص العربي
حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ . ح وحَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ ، حَدَّثَنَا مَسْلَمَةُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ ، الْمَعْنَى وَاحِدٌ ، عَنْ خَالِدٍ ، عَنْ أَبِي قِلَابَةَ ، عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ الْحُوَيْرِثِ ، أَنّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، قَالَ لَهُ أَوْ لِصَاحِبٍ لَهُ : "
إِذَا حَضَرَتِ الصَّلَاةُ ، فَأَذِّنَا ثُمَّ أَقِيمَا ثُمَّ لِيَؤُمَّكُمَا أَكْبَرُكُمَا سِنًّا
" ، وَفِي حَدِيثِ مَسْلَمَةَ، قَالَ : وَكُنَّا يَوْمَئِذٍ مُتَقَارِبَيْنِ فِي الْعِلْمِ ، وقَالَ فِي حَدِيثِ إِسْمَاعِيلَ : قَالَ خَالِدٌ : قُلْتُ لِأَبِي قِلَابَةَ : فَأَيْنَ الْقُرْآنُ ؟ قَالَ : إِنَّهُمَا كَانَا مُتَقَارِبَيْنِ .