We were settled at a watering place where people passed by, and riders would come through, so we would ask them, "What is happening with the people? What is happening with the people? Who is this man?"They would reply, "He claims that Allah has sent him, that revelation has come to him," or, "Allah has revealed such-and-such to him."I would memorize those words, and it was as if they were being engraved in my heart. The Arabs were holding back their acceptance of Islam, waiting for the conquest of Mecca. They would say, "Leave him and his people alone. If he prevails over them, then he is a true prophet."When the conquest of Mecca took place, every tribe rushed to embrace Islam, and my father hurried ahead of my people with his acceptance of Islam. When he returned, he said, "By Allah, I have come to you from the true Prophet ﷺ. He said, 'Pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time, and pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time. When the time of prayer comes, let one of you give the call to prayer, and let the one among you who knows the most Quran lead you.'"They looked, and there was no one who knew more Quran than I did, because of what I had picked up from the passing riders. So they put me forward to lead them, and I was only six or seven years old. I had a small cloak on, and whenever I prostrated, it would ride up and expose me. A woman of the tribe said, "Will you not cover the backside of your reciter for us?"So they bought some cloth and made me a shirt, and I have never been as delighted by anything as I was by that shirt.
كنا بماء ممر الناس، وكان يمر بنا الركبان فنسألهم، ما للناس ما للناس؟ ما هذا الرجل؟ فيقولون: يزعم أن الله أرسله، أوحى إليه، أو أوحى الله بكذا، فكنت أحفظ ذلك الكلام، وكأنما يقر في صدري، وكانت العرب تلوم بإسلامهم الفتح، فيقولون: اتركوه وقومه، فإنه إن ظهر عليهم فهو نبي صادق، فلما كانت وقعة أهل الفتح، بادر كل قوم بإسلامهم، وبدر أبي قومي بإسلامهم، فلما قدم قال: جنتكم والله من عند النبي ﷺ حقا، فقال: صلوا صلاة كذا في حين كذا، وصلوا كذا في حين كذا، فإذا حضرت الصلاة فليؤذن أحدكم، وليؤمكم أكثركم قرآنا، فنظروا فلم يكن أحد أكثر قرآنا مني، لما كنت أتلقى من الركبان، فقدموني بين أيديهم، وأنا ابن ست أو سبع سنين، وكانت علي بردة، كنت إذا سجدت تقلصت عني، فقالت امرأة من الحي، ألا تغطوا عنا است قارئكم، فاشتروا فقطعوا لي قميصا، فما فرحت بشيء فرحي بذلك القميص.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Military Expeditions (4202) from Sulayman bin Harb, who said, Hammad bin Zayd narrated to us, from Ayub, from Abu Qilaba, from Amr bin Salama, who said, Abu Qilaba said to me, "Will you not meet him and ask him?" He said, So I met him and asked him, and he said, then he mentioned the hadith.His statement, "Abu Qilaba said to me," means he said this to Ayub Sakhtiyani. And his statement, "So I met him," means that Ayub met Amr bin Salama and asked him. This is made explicit in Sunan Nasai (636) and Sunan Abu Dawud (585), from Hammad, from Ayub, from Amr bin Salama, who said, "We were among a settled group..." and there is no mention of Abu Qilaba in it.In another narration reported by him, through the route of Asim Ahwal, from Amr bin Salama, with this account, he said, "So I would lead them in prayer wearing a patched cloak that had a tear in it, so whenever I prostrated, my buttocks would show."Khattabi said, People have differed regarding the leadership in prayer of a boy who has not yet reached puberty, if he understands the prayer. Among those who permitted this were Hasan and Ishaq bin Rahawayh. Shafii said, A boy who has not had a wet dream may lead the prayer if he understands it, except in Friday prayer. Atta, Shaybi, Malik, Thawri, and Uzai disliked praying behind a boy before he has had a wet dream, and this is the view adopted by the people of legal opinion. Ahmad bin Hanbal used to weaken the matter of Amr bin Salama, and he once said, "Leave it, it is not something clearly established." Zuhri said, "If they are compelled to it, he may lead them in prayer."Then Khattabi said, "In the permissibility of Amr bin Salama's leading his people in prayer there is evidence for the permissibility of one performing an obligatory prayer praying behind one performing a supererogatory prayer, since the boy's prayer is supererogatory."