1332 – It is narrated from Abū Ḥammād—some transmitters call him Abū Saʿād, others Abū Asad, Abū ʿĀmir, Abū ʿAmr, Abū al-Aswad, or Abū ʿAbs—namely, ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the pulpit reciting, ‘And prepare against them whatever force you can.’ Then he declared: ‘Verily, force is archery! Verily, force is archery! Verily, force is archery!’” Related by Muslim.

[Explanation]
Imām al-Nawawī cited these hadiths in Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn. Some of them describe the excellence of the martyrs—many reports on that subject have already preceded—while others speak of the virtue of contributing to jihad with mounts and arrows.

As for the first hadith, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that when a person is martyred in the path of Allah, the pain he feels from being killed is no more than a pinch—like the sting of an ant or a gnat—because Allah, exalted is He, eases for him the agony of death just as He makes the soul’s departure easy; the soul is given glad tidings of Allah’s pleasure and of Paradise, so it departs readily, as happens with the pious among the dead.

Another merit appears in the sermon in which the Prophet ﷺ instructed: “Do not wish to meet the enemy; instead ask Allah for well-being. But if you do meet them, stand firm, for Paradise lies beneath the shade of swords.” The phrase relevant here is: “Paradise lies beneath the shade of swords.”

Among these virtues of striving in Allah’s cause is that the person who