Hadith 87

Sahih Bukhari

Book 10: Call to Prayers (Adhaan)

Chapter 54

A slave or a manumitted slave can lead the Salat (prayer)

باب إِمَامَةِ الْعَبْدِ وَالْمَوْلَى

'Aishah رضي الله عنها was led in the Salat (prayer) by her slave Dhakwan who used to recite from the Mushaf [the written Qur'an (not from memory)]. Can an illegitimate boy, a bedouin, or a boy who has not reached the age of puberty lead the Salat? (It is permissible according to) the statement of the Prophet ﷺ that the Imam should be a person who knows the Qur'an more than the others.
وَكَانَتْ عَائِشَةُ يَؤُمُّهَا عَبْدُهَا ذَكْوَانُ مِنَ الْمُصْحَفِ. وَوَلَدِ الْبَغِيِّ وَالأَعْرَابِيِّ وَالْغُلاَمِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَحْتَلِمْ، لِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «يَؤُمُّهُمْ أَقْرَؤُهُمْ لِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ».
Sahih al-Bukhari 692
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ الْمُنْذِرِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَنَسُ بْنُ عِيَاضٍ، عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ لَمَّا قَدِمَ الْمُهَاجِرُونَ الأَوَّلُونَ الْعُصْبَةَ ـ مَوْضِعٌ بِقُبَاءٍ ـ قَبْلَ مَقْدَمِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ يَؤُمُّهُمْ سَالِمٌ مَوْلَى أَبِي حُذَيْفَةَ، وَكَانَ أَكْثَرَهُمْ قُرْآنًا‏.‏
Ibn `Umar:

When the earliest emigrants came to Al-`Usba [??] a place in Quba', before the arrival of the Prophet- Salim, the slave of Abu Hudhaifa, who knew the Qur'an more than the others used to lead them in prayer.