Sunan Abi Dawud 2608
سنن أبي داود#2608Sahihحَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ بَحْرِ بْنِ بَرِّيٍّ، حَدَّثَنَا حَاتِمُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَجْلاَنَ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " إِذَا خَرَجَ ثَلاَثَةٌ فِي سَفَرٍ فَلْيُؤَمِّرُوا أَحَدَهُمْ " .
Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When three are on a journey, they should appoint one of them as their commander
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniHasan Sahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidHasan Sahih
Zubair Ali ZaiDaif
In-book reference: 15:132