This, too, is unobjectionable and permissible, for it encourages the learning of archery. The reports also relate that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Ride and shoot, but your shooting is dearer to me than your riding, for shooting can be mastered by one who is mounted or on foot, whereas riding is mastered only by one who mounts.” For that reason, archery was more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ than riding.

These ḥadiths further demonstrate the virtue of fasting while striving in Allah’s cause: if a person fasts a single day in the path of Allah, Allah will put between his face and the Fire a distance of seventy autumns—that is, seventy years.

They likewise prove the obligation of sincerity, for the Prophet ﷺ was asked about a man who fights out of bravery, another who fights out of tribal zeal, another who fights so that he may be seen, and another who fights in anger—meaning partisanship for his people—and was asked which of them is fighting in Allah’s cause. He replied, “Whoever fights so that the word of Allah may be supreme, he is the one who is in Allah’s cause.”

1344 – ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “No army or detachment goes out, gains spoils, and returns safely without having taken two-thirds of its reward in advance; whereas any army or detachment that is unsuccessful and suffers loss receives its reward in full.” Narrated by Muslim.

1345 – Abū Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) related that a man said, “Messenger of Allah, give me permission to wander in ascetic travel (siyāḥa).” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “The siyāḥa of my community is jihād in the path of Allah.” Reported by