‘Amir al-Juhani would pass by me and say, “O Khalid, come out with us so we may practice archery.” One day (14), I was slow to join him, so he said, “Come, I will tell you a hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: “Indeed, Allah admits three people into Paradise because of a single arrow: the one who makes it, seeking goodness in his craft (15); the one who shoots it; and the one who furnishes it. Shoot and ride, and that you shoot is dearer to me than that you ride. Everything that is not (a form of) play is useless except for three things: a man’s training of his horse, his playing with his wife, and his archery with his bow and arrows. And whoever abandons archery after having learned it, out of disdain for it, then it is a blessing he has abandoned.” From Mujahid, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Indeed, the angels do not attend any of your sports except for wagering (al-rihan) and archery contests (al-nidal)” (16). Al-Azhari said: Al-nidal is in archery, al-rihan is in horses, and al-sibaq (racing) is in both. Mujahid said: I saw Ibn ‘Umar running between the two targets, and if he hit a mark, he would say, “I have achieved it, I have achieved it” (17). Hudhayfah narrated the same.

1774 - Issue: He said: (And the stake (al-sabq) is only in archery, the hoof, and the camel’s foot, and nothing else.)

Al-sabq with the sukun (vowel-less) on the ba, and al-sabaq (1) with a fatha on it, refers to the wager brought forth in a race. What is meant by nahl (arrowhead) here is the arrow that has a head, by hafir (hoof) is the horse, and by khuff (camel’s foot) is the camel; he expressed each one of them by a part of it that is unique to it. Al-Khiraqi’s intent is that racing with a wager is not permissible except in these three. This is also the view of al-Zuhri and Malik. The people of Iraq said: It is permissible in racing on foot and wrestling, due to the report (athar) regarding both, for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) raced with ‘Aisha (2) and wrestled with Rukanah (2).