Hadith 782
Chapter 5: When people are together and are all of the same status - كتاب الإمامة
أَخْبَرَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا قَتَادَةُ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِذَا كَانُوا ثَلاَثَةً فَلْيَؤُمَّهُمْ أَحَدُهُمْ وَأَحَقُّهُمْ بِالإِمَامَةِ أَقْرَؤُهُمْ " .
It was narrated from Abu Sa'eed that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"when there are three people let one of them lead the prayer, and the one who is most entitled to lead the prayer is the one who has most knowledge of the Qur'an."
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 782
In-book reference : Book 10, Hadith 6