In another narration from Hanbal, he said: “If two people differ over the imamate, lots should be drawn between them, as Saʿd did.” It has also been said that the view of the majority should be followed. Ahmad indicated this in the narration of Ṣāliḥ and al-Marwazī: concerning an imam whom some people disliked while others approved of him, he said, “If most of them approve of him, he may lead them.” Thus, he considered the approval of the majority in the case of a single person over whom they differed.
According to this narration, if the disputants are equal in number, it is possible that lots should be drawn; it is also possible that the ruler should choose for them—thereby putting an end to their dispute—the one among them who is more religiously upright, older, and more proficient in recitation. Would his choice be restricted to the candidates over whom they differed, or would it extend to all the people of the mosque? It is possible that it would be restricted to those candidates, with no one else considered, since they had agreed to exclude all others from consideration.
It is also possible that he could choose anyone from among all the people of the mosque whom he deemed suitable to lead them, since the ruler’s choice is not to be constrained. If a man builds a mosque, he does not thereby acquire a superior right to lead prayers there; rather, he and the other neighbors of the mosque have equal standing with respect to its imamate and its adhan. This was explicitly stated in the narrations of Ḥarb and Yaʿqūb ibn Bukhtān. He was asked about the muezzin: should the position go to whomever the people of the mosque approve, or to the one who built the mosque? He replied: “It goes to whomever the people of the mosque approve, not to the one who built it.”
If a group of people gathers at a man’s house to pray there, the owner of the house has the strongest right to lead them, even if he is less virtuous than they are. If the ruler is present, he has a stronger right than the owner, by virtue of his general authority over him. For this reason, he is given precedence over the deceased’s guardian in the funeral prayer. p. 99
As for leading the Friday prayer, the reports from Ahmad differ as to whether appointing someone to lead it is obligatory. According to one report, such appointment is recommended, and the ruler’s presence is not a condition for it. If the people establish the Friday prayer while fulfilling its conditions, it is duly constituted and valid.