Sahih Muslim 1529

Arabic

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَوَانَةَ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي نَضْرَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ إِذَا كَانُوا ثَلاَثَةً فَلْيَؤُمَّهُمْ أَحَدُهُمْ وَأَحَقُّهُمْ بِالإِمَامَةِ أَقْرَؤُهُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Translation

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:When there are three persons, one of them should lead them. The one among them most worthy to act as Imam is one who is best versed in the Qur'an

Authenticity

Sahih

Reference