Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The one who should lead the people in prayer is the one who migrated first among them. If they are equal in migration, then the one who has the most understanding of religion should lead. If they are equal in religious knowledge, then the one who recites the Qur’an best (or who has memorized more verses of the Qur’an) should lead. No person should lead another in his domain, that is, in his house where he is the chief, nor should he sit in his special place of sitting, except with his permission.”(The narrator states): At the beginning of the prayer, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to straighten our shoulders and would say:“Do not differ among yourselves, lest your hearts differ. Let those among you who are most wise and experienced stand closest to me, then those after them in order of wisdom and experience.”

Sayyiduna Abu Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The one who knows the most Qur’an among the people should lead them in prayer. If they are equal in knowledge of the Qur’an, then the one who migrated earlier should lead. If they are equal in migration, then the one who has more knowledge of the religion should lead. And if they are equal in religious knowledge, then the one who is older in age should lead.”