I said, "Messenger of Allah, appoint me as the imam of my people."He replied, "You are their imam. Follow the pace of the weakest among them, and take a muezzin who does not take payment for his call to prayer."
أخبرنا أحمد بن سليمان قال حدثنا عفان قال حدثنا حماد بن سلمة قال حدثنا سعيد الجريري عن أبي العلاء عن مطرف
قلت يا رسول الله اجعلني إمام قومي فقال أنت إمامهم واقتد بأضعفهم واتخذ مؤذنا لا يأخذ على أذانه أجرا
[Its chain is sahih] Abu Dawud reported it in Salah, chapter on taking a wage for giving the adhan, hadith no. 531, from the hadith of Hammad bin Salama, with this same chain. It is also in al-Kubra, hadith no. 1636. Mutarrif is Ibn Abdullah bin Shikhir al-Harashi, and Hammad heard from Jareeri before his memory became confused, according to the more correct view. See al-Kawakib an-Nayyirat, p. 36. Hakim graded it sahih according to the criterion of Muslim, 1/199, 201, and Dhahabi agreed with him. Its basis is found in Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 468.Abu Ala is Yazid bin Abdullah bin Shikhir.