What is the basic process of becoming an imam (prayer leader) at a local mosque?

Question

Judging from what I've read online, there's a range of ways people can become imams. It varies from place to place, and so on. This makes it hard to envisage the underlying general process of becoming an imam, i.e., what ordinarily happens, and what are the key steps. I'm aiming to get a better mental picture of the process. I don't have in mind anything glamorous, just an imam at a small, local mosque.

Question: What is the basic process of becoming an imam (prayer leader) at a local mosque?

This seems to be referred to as imam khatib in Sunni Islam.

A Reddit user writes:

The process to become a qualified imam is relatively similar to becoming a priest. One has to go through years of training in traditional Islamic sciences. Arabic first, then study of fiqh (jurisprudence), 'aqidah (creed/belief), Quranic studies, Hadith studies, spirituality, etc. You have to study Arabic first because all the other subjects are taught through books in Arabic, and Islam was originally revealed and recorded in Arabic.

But that's just some user on Reddit, so it's not reliable.

Answer 1

As you can imagine, this situation has emerged numerous times during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. While right after hijra, there was only one masjid, and the Prophet ﷺ was the imam, as Islam spread across Medina, multiple masjids emerged with multiple imams. There were also situations of who leads the prayers while traveling, or while in a group that cannot join the main masjids.

عَنْ أَبِي مَسْعُودٍ الأَنْصَارِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:‏ يَؤُمُّ الْقَوْمَ أَقْرَؤُهُمْ لِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ كَانُوا فِي الْقِرَاءَةِ سَوَاءً فَأَعْلَمُهُمْ بِالسُّنَّةِ فَإِنْ كَانُوا فِي السُّنَّةِ سَوَاءً فَأَقْدَمُهُمْ هِجْرَةً فَإِنْ كَانُوا فِي الْهِجْرَةِ سَوَاءً فَأَقْدَمُهُمْ سِلْمًا وَلاَ يَؤُمَّنَّ الرَّجُلُ الرَّجُلَ فِي سُلْطَانِهِ وَلاَ يَقْعُدْ فِي بَيْتِهِ عَلَى تَكْرِمَتِهِ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ

Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: The one who is most versed in Allah's Book should act as Imam for the people, but If they are equally versed in reciting it, then the one who has most knowledge regarding Sunnah if they are equal regarding the Sunnah, then the earliest one to emigrate; it they emigrated at the same time, then the earliest one to embrace Islam. No man must lead another in prayer where (the latter) has authority, or sit in his place of honour in his house, without his permission. Ashajj in his narration used the word, "age" in place of "Islam".

_{— Sahih Muslim 673 a}

The Prophet ﷺ laid out the criteria in order:

1. Most versed in the Qrr'an
2. Most knowledgeable about sunnah
3. Earliest to emigrate (not applicable nowadays)
4. Earliest to embrace Islam
5. Eldest.

Malikis and Shafi'is understanding of the most versed in Qur'an as being the most knowledgable about its rulings (jurisprudence) as well as about reading it (recitation).They base this on the fact that the Prophet ﷺ during his last illness, he appointed Abu Bakr to lead the prayers in his place while the top reciter was Ubay ibn Ka'b (see Sunan Ibn Majah, Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 154).

In practice nowadays, imams are appointed by a local authority (government, society, community, etc.) as a permanent imam (Arabic: إمام راتب), using all sorts of different processes other than the one laid out by the Prophet ﷺ; too many and too varied to be able to compile, and none that I am aware of that has an Islamic basis.