If the Hafiz is a non-Arab who does not understand the Noble Qur'an

The questioner : If the Hafiz is a non-Arab, is he preferred over...? Some non-Arab Hafiz do not understand the Qur'an...?

The Shaykh : No, there is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab as long as the quality by which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established him is present in him: . So if the non-Arab is better at reciting the Book of Allah than the Arab, and the Arab is inferior to him in recitation, it is very clear that the non-Arab is the one who is preferred, not the Arab. As for the fact that he personally does not understand what he is reciting, this is a matter that returns to culture. The Messenger (peace be upon him) did not say that culture should also be combined with the best recitation. Therefore, he said: . After that, he descended to what concerns culture when he said: . This is the non-Arab.

The questioner : A regular imam.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : A regular imam.

The Shaykh : A regular imam?

The questioner : The imam is a regular one, yes.

The Shaykh : No, the question is not specific to the regular imam.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Huh?

Another questioner : In general.

The Shaykh : That is it. And in that case, if the question is directed to the regular imam, the subject changes completely. The regular imam whom the ruler, who is responsible for organizing the imams in the mosques, has appointed—then at that time, no one takes precedence over him, even if he is actually distinguished over him in recitation and in the Sunnah. But what I understood from the question was the general case and not the restricted one.
The point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This clarifies for us that the intended meaning of "the best reciter" is not "the most knowledgeable," because knowledge came in the second rank, which is his saying (peace be upon him): . What confirms this meaning is what came in "Sunan Abu Dawud" with a sound chain from the narration of 'Amr ibn Abi Salamah al-Ansari al-Madani. He was in Madinah and was a young boy picking up the news that came to them from the news of the Messenger (peace be upon him), who was at that time in Makkah before he migrated to Madinah. This boy had been given an extraordinary memory, so whenever he heard something revealed from the Qur'an, he memorized it, until he surpassed the men in this. It so happened that his father... was in a delegation from the people of Madinah to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah before the migration. When the delegation returned, they returned with a new ruling, which is the aforementioned hadith: . The boy said: "So they looked and did not find in Madinah anyone more memorizing of the Qur'an than me, so they made me lead them in prayer as an imam." The narrator says that his age was seven years or nine years—meaning at most his age was nine years. So he led them in the first prayer; the men prayed behind him and the women behind the men. When the boy finished the prayer with the taslim, one of the women from the rows of women called out: "Will you not cover your imam's backside from us?" How was that? He was wearing a coarse cloak that did not fold, but remained like a rigid piece. So when he prostrated, the garment rose, and he was short, and it was rigid. So it appears that the eye of one of the women fell upon it and she saw the 'awrah. And they were known for their frankness, so she called out: "Will you not cover your imam's backside from us?" The boy said: "So they bought me a garment, and I did not rejoice in anything as much as I rejoiced in this garment." Does this person understand the Qur'an? It is not possible that he understands the Qur'an, and he rejoices at the smallest gift presented to him.
The point is that the hadith is like this: to the end of it.
Other than that?

The questioner : May Allah reward you, and may Allah reward you with good.