Chapter on the Rulings of Congregational Prayer (the Minimum Number for Congregational Prayer, the Description of the Imam, Who Is to Be Followed and Who Is Not to Be Followed, Recitation Behind Both of Them, the Rulings of Those Led in Prayer, and Other Such Rulings Related to It)
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām|Volume 3|Book 1|Chapter 3
Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām
Volume 3, Book 1, Chapter 3
Chapter on the Rulings of Congregational Prayer (the Minimum Number for Congregational Prayer, the Description of the Imam, Who Is to Be Followed and Who Is Not to Be Followed, Recitation Behind Both of Them, the Rulings of Those Led in Prayer, and Other Such Rulings Related to It)
وَ عَنْهُ عَنِ اَلْحَسَنِ عَنْ زُرْعَةَ عَنْ سَمَاعَةَ قَالَ: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ اَلْمَمْلُوكِ يَؤُمُّ اَلنَّاسَ فَقَالَ« لاَ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ هُوَ أَفْقَهَهُمْ وَ أَعْلَمَهُمْ»
And from him, from al-Hasan, from Zurah, from Sama’ah, who said:
I asked Imam عليه السلام about the owned slave (mamluk) leading the people in prayer. Imam عليه السلام said: “No, except if he is the most understanding of them and the most knowledgeable among them.”
- Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām fī Sharḥ al-Muqniʿah, vol. 3, p. 32
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tahdhīb, p. 264