It has further become evident that the “joining” you have proposed is unsound. What kind of horsemanship—and what conceivable benefit to Islam, its people, or its fighters (1)—is to be found in foot-races between couriers? When has a single enemy ever been broken by such a runner, a battle won through him, or a fighting force reinforced because of him? And when was a dispatch rider ever sent out on foot? (2)

At its very best this activity is no more than permissible; as for staking wagers on it, that is entirely inadmissible.

As for the way you have analogized this (3) hadith to the Prophet’s ﷺ sayings, “Usury exists only in deferred exchange,” and, “The neighbor of a mosque has no prayer except in the mosque” (4) and similar reports, you would have done better to compare it with his ﷺ words: “There is no prayer for one who has no ablution” (5); “There is no prayer without the Opening Chapter of the Book” (6); and, “There is no fast for one who has not…"