Why Teaching Kids Archery, Swimming, and Riding is Sunna?

Answer by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Sami‘ al-Yaqti

Question

Why is it a Sunna to teach children archery, swimming, and horse riding?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad, his family, and those who follow his guidance and footsteps.

Short Answer

Our religion has established the teaching of archery, swimming, horsemanship, and other sports and skills to children and youth to achieve great objectives and goals at both the level of the ’Umma (nation) and the individual Muslim.

As for the level of the ’Umma: This is related to preserving its existence, strength, and religion against what its enemies intend, as Allah (Most High) says:

“Prepare against them what you (believers) can of (military) power and cavalry to deter Allah’s enemies and your enemies (…).” [Quran, 8:60]

And at the level of the individual: This relates to acquiring both physical and moral strength, as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“A believer who is strong (and healthy) is better and dearer to Allah than the weak believer, but there is goodness in both of them.” [Muslim]

And other needs of a Muslim in matters of religion and worldly life. And Allah knows best.

Detailed Answer

Islamic Emphasis on Diverse Strengths and Skills

Islam encourages the acquisition of all kinds of physical and material strengths and skills, such as running, wrestling, horsemanship, archery, swimming, fencing, weightlifting, and other physical fitness and kinetic activities. Simultaneously, it also calls for acquiring moral and spiritual strengths, and personality strength, as mentioned in many Quranic verses and noble Hadiths that combine all these strengths, which we will mention later.

This is to achieve great objectives and goals:

Defending the ’Umma: Islamic Teachings on Strength, Archery, and Unity

Some of these are on the level of the general benefit of the ‘Umma and its call: like the necessary preparation to preserve its existence, strength, and to repel aggression and injustice against it, to maintain its call and spread it, and to stand strong against those who obstruct and fight against it, as in the saying of Allah (Most High):

“Prepare against them what you (believers) can of (military) power and cavalry to deter Allah’s enemies and your enemies (…).” [Quran, 8:60] This verse encompasses many of the meanings and indications we mentioned.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) interpreted the strength mentioned in this verse as archery. ‘Uqba bin Amir al-Juhani (Allah be pleased with him) said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) on the pulpit, saying: “And prepare against them whatever you are able of power. Indeed, strength is archery. Indeed, strength is archery. Indeed, strength is archery.” [Muslim]

And as for the saying of Allah (Most High): “Allah’s enemies,” it means the enemy of the religion and the call (to Allah), and everyone who obstructs and strives to fight against it.

His saying: “And your enemies,” refers to every enemy who wants to eradicate the ’Umma or weaken it, tear apart its unity, undermine its dignity… and other meanings included in this great verse.

Islamic Perspective on Personal Strength

And then there are benefits at the level of personal advantage for the Muslim: like being adorned with strength, physical fitness, courage, initiative, patience, perseverance, seeking help from Allah, trusting in Him, and other attributes of moral strength, in addition to acquiring useful life skills and experiences.

This is explicitly stated by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the authentic Hadith “The strong believer,” narrated by Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“A believer who is strong (and healthy) is better and dearer to Allah than the weak believer, but there is goodness in both of them. Be keen on what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not give up. If anything afflicts you, do not say, ‘If I had done such and such things, such and such would have happened.’ But say, ‘Allah decrees and what He wills He does,’ for (the utterance) ‘If I had’ provides an opening for the deeds of the devil.” [Muslim]

From here, we understand the wisdom and the reason for the command to teach children and youth these skills and arts and their Sunna nature, as we have explained previously through the religious texts and as we will also present from the Hadiths and the sayings reported about the righteous predecessors, Allah be pleased with them, including:

Examples 

• Narrated Salama bin al-Akwa‘ (Allah be pleased with him):
  The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed by some people of the tribe of Bani Aslam who were practicing archery. The Prophet said, “O Bani Isma‘il! Practice archery as your father Isma‘il was a great archer. Keep on throwing arrows, and I am with Bani so-and-so.” So one of the parties ceased throwing. Allah’s Apostle said, “Why do you not throw?” They replied, “How should we throw while you are with them (i.e. on their side)?” On that, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Throw, and I am with all of you.” [Bukhari]
• Narrated Anas (Allah be pleased with him):
  The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) had a she-camel called al-‘Adba’, and it was too fast to surpass in speed. There came a bedouin riding a camel of his, and that camel outstripped it (i.e. Al-‘Aqba’). That result was hard on the Muslims who said sorrowfully, “Al-‘Adba’ has been outstripped.” Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “It is due from Allah that nothing would be raised high in this world except that He lowers or puts it down.” [Ibid.]
• Reported from Makhul (Allah have mercy on him):
  ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the people of Sham, “Teach your children swimming, archery, and horse-riding.” In another narration, “And tell them to leap upon horses with a leap.” [Suyuti, Jam‘ al-Jawami‘]
  In another narration, ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) said, “Teach your children swimming and archery, and the best pastime for a woman is the spinning wheel.” [Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Kitab al-Nafaqa]
• Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (Allah be pleased with him) advised his sons:
  He used to say to them, “O my sons! Learn archery, for it is the best of your games.” [Ibn Abi Shayba, Musannaf]

Contemporary Skills and Strengths

In addition to what has been previously mentioned, following the saying of our Master ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him), I suggest:

“Teach your children languages (spoken and programming), the arts of accounting and management, the arts of media, the arts of speech (public speaking, conversation, and debate…), martial arts and self-defense, first aid and emergency response, and the arts of bearing future responsibilities…” and other beneficial skills for them, their community, and their religion.

Based on the Above

Therefore, I urge our youth and their guardians to be keen on acquiring all types of strengths and skills we have mentioned and to add contemporary strengths, such as technical and programming strengths, economic and industrial strengths, media strengths, and others that benefit them in their religion and worldly life and meet the needs of their nation, in a manner that is appropriate and fitting for every time and place.

And Allah is the guardian of success.
[Shaykh] ‘Abd al-Sami‘ al-Yaqti

Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti is a Syrian scholar born in Aleppo in 1977. He obtained his degree in Shari‘a from the Shari‘a Faculty of Damascus University, a Diploma in Educational Qualification from the Faculty of Education at Aleppo University, and a Diploma in Shari‘a and a Master’s in Shari‘a from the Faculty of Sharia, and Law at Omdurman University in Sudan. He is currently writing his doctoral thesis.

He studied under esteemed scholars such as Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani, and Shaykh Dr. Nur al-Din Itr, among others. Shaykh al-Yakti has worked in teaching and cultural guidance in orphanages and high schools in Aleppo. He served as an Imam, Khatib, and reciter at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and as a certified trainer for Khatibs in Abu Dhabi’s Khatib Qualification Program.

He is involved in developing and teaching a youth education program at Seekers Arabic for Islamic Sciences.

Among Shaykh al-Yaqti’s significant works are “Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni: Bayna Ilm al-Kalam Wa Usul al-Fiqh” and the program “The Messenger of Allah Among Us (Allah bless him and give him peace).