Sahih Muslim 1529
صحيح مسلم#1529SahihAbu Sa'id al-Khudri reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:When there are three persons, one of them should lead them. The one among them most worthy to act as Imam is one who is best versed in the Qur'an
Scholarly Authentication
We show the most cautious grade (weakest-wins) as the overall label. Individual scholars graded it as follows:
Every narration in Sahih Muslim is accepted as Sahih (authentic) by the established status of the book.
In-book reference: 5:362