حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَعِيلُ ح و حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ حَدَّثَنَا مَسْلَمَةُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الْمَعْنَی وَاحِدٌ عَنْ خَالِدٍ عَنْ أَبِي قِلَابَةَ عَنْ مَالِکِ بْنِ الْحُوَيْرِثِ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لَهُ أَوْ لِصَاحِبٍ لَهُ إِذَا حَضَرَتْ الصَّلَاةُ فَأَذِّنَا ثُمَّ أَقِيمَا ثُمَّ لِيَؤُمَّکُمَا أَکْبَرُکُمَا سِنًّا وَفِي حَدِيثِ مَسْلَمَةَ قَالَ وَکُنَّا يَوْمَئِذٍ مُتَقَارِبَيْنِ فِي الْعِلْمِ و قَالَ فِي حَدِيثِ إِسْمَعِيلَ قَالَ خَالِدٌ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي قِلَابَةَ فَأَيْنَ الْقُرْآنُ قَالَ إِنَّهُمَا کَانَا مُتَقَارِبَيْنِ
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 589
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.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020