حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَی بْنُ إِسْمَعِيلَ حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ أَخْبَرَنَا أَيُّوبُ عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ سَلَمَةَ قَالَ کُنَّا بِحَاضِرٍ يَمُرُّ بِنَا النَّاسُ إِذَا أَتَوْا النَّبِيَّ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَکَانُوا إِذَا رَجَعُوا مَرُّوا بِنَا فَأَخْبَرُونَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ کَذَا وَکَذَا وَکُنْتُ غُلَامًا حَافِظًا فَحَفِظْتُ مِنْ ذَلِکَ قُرْآنًا کَثِيرًا فَانْطَلَقَ أَبِي وَافِدًا إِلَی رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي نَفَرٍ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ فَعَلَّمَهُمْ الصَّلَاةَ فَقَالَ يَؤُمُّکُمْ أَقْرَؤُکُمْ وَکُنْتُ أَقْرَأَهُمْ لِمَا کُنْتُ أَحْفَظُ فَقَدَّمُونِي فَکُنْتُ أَؤُمُّهُمْ وَعَلَيَّ بُرْدَةٌ لِي صَغِيرَةٌ صَفْرَائُ فَکُنْتُ إِذَا سَجَدْتُ تَکَشَّفَتْ عَنِّي فَقَالَتْ امْرَأَةٌ مِنْ النِّسَائِ وَارُوا عَنَّا عَوْرَةَ قَارِئِکُمْ فَاشْتَرَوْا لِي قَمِيصًا عُمَانِيًّا فَمَا فَرِحْتُ بِشَيْئٍ بَعْدَ الْإِسْلَامِ فَرَحِي بِهِ فَکُنْتُ أَؤُمُّهُمْ وَأَنَا ابْنُ سَبْعِ سِنِينَ أَوْ ثَمَانِ سِنِينَ
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 585
Amr bin Salamah said ; we lived at a place where the people would pass by us when they came to the prophet ﷺ. When they returned they would again pass by us. And they used to inform us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said so –and-so. I was a boy with a good memory. From the ( process) I memorized a large portion of the Quran. Then my father went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ along with a group of his clan. He (the Prophet) taught them prayer. And he said: The one of you who knows most of the Quran should act as your imam. I knew the Quran better than most of them because I had memorized it. They, therefore, put me in front of them, and I would lead them in prayer. I wore a small yellow mantle which, when I prostrated myself, went up on me, and a woman of the clan said: Cover the back side of your leader from us. So they bought an ‘Ammani shirt for me, and I have never been so pleased about anything after embracing Islam as I was about that (shirt). I used to lead them in prayer and I was only seven or eight year old.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020