If they designate a specific bow, it does not become fixed, for it might break, and he would need to replace it; because skill does not vary with the identity of the bow, unlike the type. If they conduct a shooting match where one shoots with an Arabian bow and the other with a Persian one, or one with a 'zunbur' (crossbow) and the other with a 'jarkh' (mechanical bow) (83), or a 'husban' bow—which is a bow with short arrows placed in a groove like a reed and then shot—there are two views regarding this. One view is that it is valid. This is the opinion of the Qadi and the school of al-Shafi'i; because they are of the same genus, so the competition is valid despite their difference, like horses and camels. [The second view is that the competition is not valid given their difference, because they differ in accuracy, so it is treated like a competition between two different genera. The same ruling applies to competition between different types of horses and camels] (85).

Section: The apparent view of Ahmad is the permissibility of shooting with the Persian bow, and he explicitly stated the permissibility of competing with it. Abu Bakr ibn [Abi] (86) Ja'far said: It is disliked (makruh), because it is narrated (87) from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that he saw a man with a Persian bow and said: "Discard it, for it is cursed, but you must use the Arabian bows and the qana (spear) shafts, for by them Allah strengthens the religion and by them He gives you authority in the earth." Narrated by al-Athram (88). Our evidence is the consensus that has been established on shooting with it and the permissibility of carrying it, as this has been permitted throughout most eras, and it is the weapon by which jihad is conducted in our time and in most of the preceding eras. As for the hadith, it is possible that he cursed it because its carriers in that era were the Persians, and they had not yet embraced Islam, and he forbade the Arabs from carrying it because of their lack of familiarity with it. That is why he commanded the use of qana spears; had a person carried a spear other than that, it would not have been blameworthy. Ahmad narrated that a group used as evidence for the Persian bows the saying of Allah Almighty: