1148 – ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir (Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while standing on the pulpit, reciting, ‘And prepare against them whatever force you can and war-horses tethered…’—then he proclaimed, ‘Verily, force is in shooting; verily, force is in shooting; verily, force is in shooting.’” Narrated by Muslim (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• “Prepare” (aʿiddu): an imperative meaning to ready something for future use.
• “Whatever you can”: a general phrase that covers every human capacity according to one’s circumstances and conditions.
• “War-horses” (ribāṭ al-khayl): literally the keeping and acquisition of horses; by extension, it denotes residing at frontier posts that guard the borders.
• “Indeed, force is in shooting”: the noble verse indicates that true force lies in projectile warfare, for it strikes the enemy harder and from a safer distance. At the time of revelation, shooting meant arrows, yet the verse’s miraculous wording leaves “force” unrestricted so that it applies to the force of every age and place. The Prophet’s statement is likewise miraculous for using the unrestricted term “shooting,” which embraces every form of projectile weapon, present and future, of any kind.
• “Alā”: pronounced with an open hamzah and a light “l” sound; it is a particle of attention-calling, used to open a statement gently.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith
1 – Allah the Exalted says: “And prepare against them whatever force you can” (Sūrah al-Anfāl 60). In this noble verse Allah commands His believing servants to undertake jihad by