I saw Jabir bin Abdullah and Jabir bin Umayr, both from the Ansar, practicing archery. One of them sat down, so his companion said to him, "Have you grown lazy?"He replied, "Yes."Then one of them said to the other, "Did you not hear the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, 'Everything that does not involve the remembrance of Allah is idle distraction, heedlessness, and play, except for four things, a man walking between the two targets in archery, training his horse, playing with his wife, and learning to swim.'"
رأيت جابر بن عبد الله وجابر بن عمير الأنصاريين يرميان قال: فأما أحدهما فجلس، فقال له صاحبه: أكسلت؟ قال: نعم، فقال أحدهما للآخر: أما سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: كل شيء ليس من ذكر الله، فهو لغو وسهو ولعب إلا أربعة خصال: مشي الرجل بين الغرضين، وتأديبه فرسه، وملاعبته أهله، وتعلم السباحة.
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Nasai narrated it in al-Kubra (8891), and Tabarani in al-Kabir (2/211), both through the route of Muhammad bin Maslama, from Abu Abdul-Rahim, from Abdul-Wahhab bin Bakht, from Ata bin Abu Rabah, who said, and then he related it. Its isnad is sahih, and Abu Abdul-Rahim is Khalid bin Abu Yazid bin Simak Harrani, trustworthy and one of the narrators found in the Sahih. Munziri said in al-Targhib (2037), "Tabarani narrated it in al-Kabir with a good isnad."His saying "the two targets" means the two targets, and what is intended here is archery.On this topic there is also what was narrated from Saad bin Abu Waqqas as a marfu report, "You should engage in archery, for it is the best, or one of the best, of your pastimes." Bazzar narrated it (1146), saying, Hatim bin Layth Jawhari told us, Yahya bin Hammad told us, Abu Awana told us, from Abdul-Malik bin Umayr, from Musab bin Saad, from his father, and he related it.Bazzar found fault with it, saying, "This hadith is, according to the trustworthy narrators, mawquf, and we have not heard anyone give it a complete chain except Hatim, from Yahya bin Hammad, from Abu Awana." End of quote. It appears that Bazzar had other chains from trustworthy narrators, from Yahya bin Hammad, as a mawquf report, and it was on that basis that he passed this judgment. Daraqutni likewise found fault with it in al-Ilal (600), saying, "The mawquf version is more sahih."As for what was narrated from Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Husayn, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Allah admits three people into Paradise through a single arrow, its maker who intends good in making it, the one who shoots it, and the one who supplies it," and said, "Shoot and ride, though your shooting is dearer to me than your riding. Everything with which a Muslim man amuses himself is void, except his shooting with his bow, his training of his horse, and his playing with his wife, for these are part of what is true," this is daif because it is disconnected (mursal).Tirmidhi narrated it (1637) from Ahmad bin Mani, Yazid bin Harun told us, Muhammad bin Ishaq informed us, from Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Husayn, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, and he related it.Hakim narrated it (2/95) through the route of Suwayd bin Abdul-Aziz, from Muhammad bin Ajlan, from Saeed Maqburi, from Abu Hurairah, as a marfu report. The two Razis said, "This is a mistake, Suwayd erred in it. It is really from Ibn Ajlan, from Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Husayn, who said, 'It reached me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said such and such.' It was narrated by Layth and Hatim bin Ismail and a group of others, and this mursal version is the sahih one." [Ilal al-Hadith, 1/302]Dhahabi said in his Talkhis, "Suwayd is discarded."