Sunan Abi Dawud 585

Musa ibn Ismaʿil narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us: Ayyub informed us, from ʿAmr ibn Salamah, who said: We lived in a place where people passed by us when they went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When they returned, they would tell us that the Messenger of Allah had said such-and-such. I was a boy with a strong memory and memorized much Qur’an from that. My father went as a delegate to the Messenger of Allah with a group of his people, and he taught them prayer. He said: ‘The one who has memorized the most Qur’an should lead you.’ I had memorized more than they had, so they put me in front of them and I led them in prayer. I had a small yellow mantle; when I prostrated, it slipped away from me. A woman among the women said: ‘Cover the nakedness of your reciter for us!’ So they bought me an Omani shirt. I was never happier about anything after Islam than I was about it. I led them in prayer when I was seven or eight years old.