Combining the hadith “The eldest among them leads them” with “The one who leads the people is the one who is best at reciting the Book of Allah”
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Question:
In the hadith of Malik, Your Eminence the Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that the eldest of them should lead them, knowing that the one who leads the people is the one who is most proficient in reciting the Qur'an,
Answer:
The hadiths explain one another. They were of similar standing, so he said the eldest among them leads. If some of them are better than others, the one who is best at reciting the Book of Allah leads them. He said, “We were of similar standing, so it was ordered that the eldest among them lead them.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. This happened to be a case where they were of similar standing, so the eldest among them in age was the one who led the prayer. Thus, the texts explain one another.
In the hadith of Malik, Your Eminence the Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that the eldest of them should lead them, knowing that the one who leads the people is the one who is most proficient in reciting the Qur'an,
Answer:
The hadiths explain one another. They were of similar standing, so he said the eldest among them leads. If some of them are better than others, the one who is best at reciting the Book of Allah leads them. He said, “We were of similar standing, so it was ordered that the eldest among them lead them.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
The one who leads the people is the one who is best at reciting the Book of Allah. If they are equal in recitation, then the one who is most knowledgeable of the Sunnah. If they are equal in that and in recitation, then the one who is most advanced in age. If they are equal in that and in age, then the eldest among them in age.
يؤم القوم أقرؤهم لكتاب الله، فإن كانوا في القراءة سواء فأعلمهم بالسنة، فإن كانوا في السجن والسواء فأقدم منه نظرة، فإن كانوا في الجنة والسجن فأكبرهم سنا
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم [ برنامج إذاعي ]، بداية من باب قضاء الفوائت — islamhouse.com (20:57)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.