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Text and translation
English translation
356. Abū 'Aṭiyah narrated that a man among them said: "Mālik bin Al-Huwaīrīth came to us in our Muṣalla to narrate. One day when it was time for Ṣalāt, we told him to go ahead (to lead the prayer). He said: 'Let one of you go forward, until I narrate to you why I would not go forward (to lead the prayer): I heard Allāh's Messenger ﷺ saying: "Whoever visits a people, then he does not lead them, but a man among them leads them." (Ḥasan)
Abū 'Eisā said: This Ḥadīth is Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ.
This is acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ and others. They say that the owner of the house has more right to being the Imām than the visitor.
Some of the people of knowledge said that when the visitor is given permission then there is no harm if he leads them in Ṣalāt.
Ishāq commented on the Ḥadīth of Mālik bin Al-Huwaīrīth: "He was very strict on the view that no one should lead the owner of the house in Ṣalāt even if he is given the permission to do so. The same thing applies in the case of the Masjid; [he does not lead them in Ṣalāt in the Masjid] when he visits them. Rather, 'A man from among them should lead them in Ṣalāt.'"
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Commentary
The owner of the house has the right to lead the prayer, but if he allows someone more knowledgeable and virtuous than himself because of his respect and nobility, most of the people of knowledge regard the authenticity of prayer led by a visitor. Yet leading prayer without the permission of the owner of house or the Imām is not right.
