Sunan an-Nasa'i
Book 10: The Book of Leading the Prayer (Al-Imamah)
كتاب الإمامة
99 hadith in this book
Chapter 5 When people are together and are all of the same status
باب اجْتِمَاعِ الْقَوْمِ فِي مَوْضِعٍ هُمْ فِيهِ سَوَاءٌ
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."
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 " .
Hadith text, translations and grading are courtesy of Sunnah.com.