We were besieging the fortress of Taif alongside the Prophet of Allah ﷺ when I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "Whoever strikes a target with an arrow will earn a rank in Paradise."That day, I struck the mark with sixteen arrows.I also heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "Whoever shoots an arrow in the path of Allah , it counts as the equivalent of freeing a slave. Whoever turns gray with a single gray hair in the path of Allah, it will be a light for him on the Day of Resurrection. Any Muslim man who frees a Muslim man, Allah
will make every bone of the freed man a ransom for every bone of his own from the Fire. And any Muslim woman who frees a Muslim woman, Allah
will make every bone of the freed woman a ransom for every bone of her own from the Fire."
حاصرنا مع نبي الله ﷺ حصن الطائف فسمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: من بلغ بسهم، فله درجة في الجنة، قال: فبلغت يومئذ ستة عشر سهما، فسمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: من رمى بسهم في سبيل الله عز وجل، فهو عدل محرر، ومن شاب شيبة في سبيل الله كانت له نورا يوم القيامة، وأيما رجل مسلم أعتق رجلا مسلما فإن الله عز وجل جاعل وفاء كل عظم من عظامه عظما من عظام محرره من النار، وأيما امرأة مسلمة أعتقت امرأة مسلمة، فإن الله عز وجل جاعل وفاء كل عظم من عظامها عظما من عظام محررها من النار.
Reported by Abu Dawud (3965), Tirmidhi (1638), Nasai (3143), and Ahmad (17022), and Ibn Hibban (4615) and Hakim (3/49–50) both graded it sahih, all of them through various routes from Hisham bin Abu Abdullah, from Qatada, from Salim bin Abu Jaad, from Madan bin Abu Talha, from Abu Najeeh, who said, and then he narrated it. The wording given is that of Ahmad, and some of them narrated it in shortened form. Its chain of transmission is sahih.Tirmidhi said, this is a hasan sahih hadith, and Abu Najeeh is Amr bin Abasa Sulami. Hakim said, it is sahih according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it in their two books. This has already appeared in the Book of Manumission, in the chapter on the merit of freeing slaves.