revolves around its underlying cause; therefore, if some means now exists that strikes greater fear into the enemy than horses do in combat, the harm it inflicts is correspondingly more serious and it becomes the object of the divine command. Muslims must strive to obtain it; and if it can be had only by learning the relevant craft, then mastering that craft is obligatory, for whatever is indispensable to the fulfilment of a duty is itself a duty.

8 – Sayyid Qutb said: The verse singles out “tethered horses” because that was the conspicuous weapon available to those whom the Qur’an first addressed. Had they been ordered to prepare instruments whose very nature they could not yet conceive—things that would only appear with the passage of time—the command would have bewildered them with unknowns. What matters is the general directive.

9 – As for his ﷺ words, “Verily, power is marksmanship—verily, power is marksmanship,” this emphatic repetition is his ﷺ own explanation that the “power” mentioned in Allah’s words, “And prepare for them whatever power you can” (al-Anfāl 60), refers to marksmanship. Allah the Exalted also says, “It was not you who killed them; it was Allah who killed them. And it was not you who launched when you launched; it was Allah who launched” (al-Anfāl 17).

10 – Regarding the reports: The compilers of the Sunan relate, on the authority of ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah admits into Paradise three people because of a single arrow: the maker, who seeks reward through its manufacture; the one who hands it over in the path of Allah; and the one who shoots it in the path of Allah.” He also said: “Shoot and ride, but shooting is better for you than riding.”

The Five—Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah, and Aḥmad—narrate from ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Whoever shoots an arrow in the path of Allah receives a reward equivalent to freeing a slave.” The term “muḥarrarah” denotes a liberated neck.

Imam Muslim records from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever learns archery and then abandons it is not one of us.”

11 – Al-Qurṭubī said: Since arrows are among the most effective implements employed in warfare,