Faqim al-Lakhmi said to Uqba bin Amir, "You go back and forth between these two targets, when you are an old man and it must be difficult for you?"Uqba replied, "Were it not for words I heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I would not trouble myself with it."Harith said, I asked Ibn Sahammasa, "What were those words?"He said, "He said, 'Whoever learns archery and then abandons it is not one of us,' or, 'has indeed disobeyed.'"
أن فقيما اللخمي قال لعقبة بن عامر: تختلف بين هذين الغرضين، وأنت كبير يشق عليك؟ قال عقبة: لولا كلام سمعته من رسول الله ﷺ لم أعانه، قال الحارث: فقلت لابن شماسة: وما ذاك؟ قال: إنه قال: من علم الرمي ثم تركه، فليس منا أو قد عصى.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Leadership (1919:169) from Muhammad bin Rumh bin Muhajir, who said, Layth informed us, from Harith bin Yaqub, from Abdul-Rahman bin Shumama, and he mentioned it.As for what has been narrated from Uqba bin Amir with the wording, "Allah admits three people to Paradise through a single arrow, its maker who intends good by making it, the one who shoots it, and the one who hands him the arrows. Shoot and ride, but that you shoot is more beloved to me than that you ride. There is nothing that counts as idle amusement except three things, a man training his horse, his playing with his family, and his shooting with his bow and arrows. Whoever abandons archery after learning it, out of aversion to it, then it is a blessing that he has forsaken, or renounced." Some of it contains objectionable material.Abu Dawud (2513), Nasai (3146, 3578), and Ahmad (17321, 17335, 17336) narrated it, and Hakim graded it sahih (2/95), all of them through routes from Abdul-Rahman bin Yazid bin Jabir, who said, Abu Salam (whose name is Mamtur Habashi) narrated to me, from Khalid bin Zayd, from Uqba bin Amir, and he mentioned it.In Nasai's version it is Khalid bin Yazid instead of Khalid bin Zayd. Hakim said, its isnad is sahih.I say, it contains Khalid bin Zayd, from whom only Abu Salam, who is Mamtur Habashi, narrated. No one declared him trustworthy except Ibn Hibban, and therefore Hafiz said, "Acceptable," meaning when corroborated, but I did not find any corroboration for him.He was named Abdullah bin Zayd in Tirmidhi (1637m), Ibn Majah (2811), and Ahmad (17300), and Tirmidhi said, hasan.Some thought that he was a different person, but the correct view is that he is Khalid bin Zayd, as Bukhari said in Tarikh al-Kabir (5/93). The hadith has other chains that revolve around Abdullah bin Zayd Azraq.The mention of concern for horses and archery in jihad is meant to refer to preparing the necessary equipment for defense and combat according to the time and place.