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Features
of sports in Islam are many.
In fact, many Islamic
obligations include physical
activities in addition to
spiritual activities and
ways of straightening
behavior. Prayer, for
example, is a spiritual
purification as well as
motions for the body. Hajj
also involves physical
effort in its various
rituals. So do visiting
fellow Muslims and the sick,
and walking to mosques. All
kinds of social activities
in Islam can be considered
to be a physical exercise of
the body and a way to
strengthen it, as long as
these activities are done
moderately.
Among
the sports that early
Muslims played are the
following:
1. Running.
It was a form of
training for traveling,
jihad, seeking provision,
etc.
Running
is also implicitly included
in the command to hasten to
do good, which is both a
spiritual and physical
hastening. It was reported
by Ahmad ibn Hanbal that the
Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) raced `A'ishah
and she outran him. Then
they had another race where
he outran her, whereupon he
said, "This time makes
up for the other." Some
versions of the same hadith
mention that his outrunning
in the second time was due
to the fact that `A'ishah
(may Allah be pleased with
her) had gained weight.
Also,
one of the famous Arabs
known for running was
Hudhayfah ibn Badr, who once
attacked An-Nu`man ibn
Al-Mundhir ibn Ma' As-Sama',
and crossed in one night
what people could cross in
eight nights.
2.
Horsemanship and horse
racing. Arabs are famous
for horsemanship. Once
children reached 8 years,
they used to learn how to
ride horses. Allah Almighty
referred to horse riding in
the time of war in the
Qur'an: [By
the (steeds) that run, with
panting (breath); Striking
sparks of fire (by their
hooves); And scouring to the
raid at dawn; And raise the
dust in clouds the while;
Penetrating forthwith as one
into the midst (of the foe)]
(Al-`Adiyat 100: 1-5).
Horses
are also important in days
of peace. Allah Almighty
says [And
(He has created) horses,
mules and donkeys, for you
to ride and as an adornment]
(An-Nahl 16: 8). Allah
Almighty also recommended
the Prophet to care for
horses in this Qur'anic
verse: [And
make ready against them all
you can of power, including
steeds of war]
(Al-Anfal 8: 60).
The
Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) was also
reported to have held races
for horses that had been
especially prepared for the
purpose, from Al-Hafya' to
Thaniyyat Al-Wada` (about 6
or 7 miles from Madinah),
and for those that had not
been trained, from Thaniyyat
Al-Wada` to the mosque of
Banu Zurayq (about 1 mile).
In
Sahih Muslim it is reported
that Allah's Messenger said,
"Ride horses, for
they are the legacy of your
father Isma`il
(Ishmael)."
Also,
in Sahih Al-Bukhari, the
Prophet himself is reported
to have participated in a
race while riding on his
unbeatable she-camel,
Al-`Adba'. Once a Bedouin
rode a young camel that beat
Al-`Adba' in a race. The
defeat was hard for the
Muslims, so the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon
him) said, "It is
Allah's law that He brings
down whatever rises high in
this world."
Al-Jahiz
also reported in his book
Al-Bayan wa At-Tabyeen that
`Umar ibn Al-Khattab wrote
to his governors saying,
"Teach your children
swimming and
horsemanship." In
another narration, `Umar was
reported to have added
" Tell them to jump on
the horses' backs, and
narrate the stories of
famous proverbs and good
poetry to them."
3.
Archery. A number of
hadiths show that this sport
was popular among early
Muslims:
`Uqbah
ibn `Amir said, "I
heard the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings be upon
him) saying while he was on
the pulpit, 'In the
verse, [And make ready
against them all you can of
power, including steeds of
war], the word power means
archery; the word force
means archery.'"
Salamah
ibn Al-Akwa` narrated that
the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him)
passed by some people of the
tribe of Banu Aslam who were
practicing archery. The
Prophet said,
"O children
of Ishmael! Practice archery
as your father Ishmael was a
great archer. Keep on
shooting arrows and I am
with (the team of) Banu
so-and-so." So one
of the parties ceased
shooting, whereupon the
Prophet said, "Why
do you not shoot?" They
replied, "How should we
shoot while you are with
them (i.e., on their
side)?" On that the
Prophet said, "Shoot
and I am with all of
you" (Al-Bukhari
and Muslim).
`Uqbah
also said, "I heard
Allah's Messenger (peace and
blessings be upon him)
saying, 'Allah will cause
three persons to enter
Paradise for one arrow: the
maker when he has a good
intention in making it, the
one who shoots it, and the
one who hands it. So shoot
and ride, but your shooting
is dearer to me than your
riding. If anyone abandons
archery after becoming an
adept because of his
distaste for it, it is a
blessing he has abandoned;
(or he said: for which he
has been ungrateful)'"
(Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, and
Al-Hakim).
4.
Fencing. Arabs knew a
sport by the name niqaf,
which is in fact the origin
of fencing as known today.
One of its forms was a
special dance that the
Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) witnessed being
done by Abyssinians inside a
mosque. This niqaf refers to
some movements being
performed with arrows. In a
narration reported by Abu
Salamah, those Abyssinians
were playing with their
spears.
5.
Wrestling. The Prophet
wrestled with a number of
men, one of whom was Rukanah
ibn `Abd Yazid ibn Hashim
ibn `Abdul-Muttalib, who
lived in Makkah and was a
skillful wrestler. People
used to come to him from
distant territories and
challenge him in wrestling.
Ibn Ishaq narrated the story
of Rukanah: Once the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon
him) met him in one of the
mountain paths of Makkah,
whereupon he said to him, "O
Rukanah! Will not you fear
Allah and accept what I am
calling you to?"
Rukanah replied, "O
Muhammad! Do you have a
witness to verify your
truthfulness?" So the
Prophet said, "If I
beat you in wrestling, will
you believe in Allah and His
Messenger?" The man
replied, "Yes."
The Prophet wrestled him and
defeated him. Rukanah was
astonished with that, and he
asked the Prophet to acquit
him of their agreement,
which is belief, and to have
a rematch. So they had a
second and a third rematch
where the Prophet also
defeated him. Rukanah was
astonished and said,
"This is very strange
indeed!" Then he
immediately embraced Islam.
Other narrations state that
he embraced Islam after the
conquest (fath)of
Makkah" (Al-Hakim, Abu
Dawud, and At-Tirmidhi).
The
Prophet also wrestled with
Abu Al-Aswad Al-Jumahi, who
was so strong that he would
stand on a cow hide, and ten
men would pull the hide to
take it from under his feet,
but in the end, the hide
would be torn and he had not
moved an inch.
6.
Weight lifting. It was
known to Arabs as rab`,
which men used to practice
by lifting a stone with
their hands to show how
strong they were. It is also
reported that the first
person to invent this game
was Jabir ibn `Abdullah
Al-Ansari, who was known for
his physical strength. Among
those who were famous for
being strong was `Ali ibn
Abi Talib, who, in the
Battle of Khaybar, lost his
shield so he used a door of
the fort as a shield.
Amazingly, that door was too
heavy to be carried by seven
persons (see Ar-Rawd
Al-Anif, vol. 2, p.
239).
7.
High jumping. It was
known to Arabs as al-qafizi.
In this sport, the players
used to place a piece of
wood to jump on, and the
game had
special rules (see `Uyun
Al-Akhbar, by Ibn
Qutaybah, vol. 1, p. 133).
8.
Stone tossing. Its rules
are mentioned in Arabic
literary books. Al-Harithah
ibn Nafi` reported, "I
used to play with Al-Hasan
and Al-Husayn (the Prophet's
grandsons) with madahi
(round stones). The game
used to go as follows: A
hole is dug; the competitors
throw their stones aiming to
drop them in the hole, and
the winner is the one whose
stone falls in the hole.
Sa`id ibn Al-Musayyab was
asked about this game, and
he deemed it
permissible."
9-
Swimming. `Ata' ibn Abi
Rabah narrated that he saw
Jabir ibn `Abdullah and
Jabir ibn `Umayr Al-Ansari
while they were practicing
shooting, but one of them
felt bored, so the other
said to him, "Do you
feel bored? I heard Allah's
Messenger (peace and
blessings be upon him)
saying, "All things
in which there is no
remembrance of Allah are
frivolity and idle play
except for four things, and
he mentioned teaching
another to swim"
(At-Tabarani). Ibn
`Abbas (may Allah be pleased
with him) said, "Once,
`Umar ibn Al-Khattab say to
me, 'Let's compete in water
and see who can hold his
breath under water longer
than the other.'"
It
is also reported that the
Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) had swum while
he was a child when his
mother visited his maternal
uncles in Madinah. That is
why when the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him)
immigrated to Madinah, he
looked at the place where
his father had been buried
and said, "Here is
where my mother brought
me."
It is
also reported that the
Prophet could swim well in
the well of Banu `Ady ibn
Al-Najjar. Through this
incident, As-Suyuti could
prove that the Prophet knew
how to swim. As-Suyuti also
reported that Abu Al-Qasim
Al-Baghawi narrated on the
authority of Ibn `Abbas that
the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) and
some of his Companions once
swam in a stream. That day,
the Prophet said, "Let
everyone among us swim
towards his friend." The
Prophet himself swam towards
Abu Bakr until he embraced
him saying, "Here I
am and my friend"
(see Al-Zurqani's
comment on
Al-Mawahib
Al-Ladunniyyah, vol. 1,
p. 194).
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