Fadl al-Ramy wa Talimihi li al-Tabarani

Fadl al-Ramy wa Ta'limihi (The Virtue of Archery and Teaching It) is a specialized hadith treatise authored by the traditionist Abu al-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ahmad al-Tabarani (d. 360 AH / 971 CE), compiling prophetic traditions and early reports on archery, weapons practice, and the merit of military training Khizanat al-Turath - Fihr…+1.

Subject Matter and Scope

The treatise gathers marfu' (prophetic) and mawquf (companion) traditions detailing the religious merits and legal rulings concerning archery (al-ramy), bows, and marksmanship al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1. Among the reports compiled in the text are:

• Virtues of Practice and Targets: The merit of walking between target markers during shooting practice, such as the narration of Abu Dharr: من مشى بين الغرضين كان له بكل خطوة حسنة ("Whoever walks between the two targets receives a good deed for every step") al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1.
• Prophetic Encouragement of Weapons: Traditions regarding the Arab bow and spears, including the report that the Prophet ﷺ pointed to the Arab bow and said that by it and by spears God would establish and grant victory to the believers, as well as the report narrated from Anas ibn Malik regarding keeping an Arab bow al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1.
• Warnings Against Abandoning Archery: Strong admonitions against neglecting or forgetting marksmanship after having acquired skill in it, such as the report of Abu Hurayrah: من تعلم الرمي ثم نسيه فهي نعمة سلبها ("Whoever learns archery and then forgets it, it is a blessing stripped from him"), and the narration from Uqbah ibn Amir stating that giving up shooting after learning it is a blessing one has ungratefully discarded al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1.
• Directives of the Companions: The letter written by the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab to Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah instructing: أن علموا غلمانكم العوم، ومقاتلتكم الرمي ("Teach your boys swimming and your combatants archery") al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1, and the counsel of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas to his children: أي بني تعلموا الرماية فإنها خير لعبكم ("O my sons, learn archery, for it is the best of your play") al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1.

Reception, Transmission, and Manuscripts

The book is recorded under the titles Kitab al-Ramy and Fadl al-Ramy wa Ta'limihi in the early bibliographical list of al-Tabarani's works transmitted by Yahya ibn Mandah and cited by Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi Khizanat al-Turath - Fihr…+1. Later scholars cited its chains and texts extensively in works dedicated to the virtues of jihad and military training; notably, Ibn al-Qayyim cited numerous hadiths directly with their chains from al-Tabarani's Kitab Fadl al-Ramy in his treatise al-Furusiyyah al-Muhammadiyyah al-Furusiyya al-Muhammadi…+1.

A manuscript copy of the work is preserved in the Köprülü Library in Istanbul, Turkey (MS no. 384/2) Khizanat al-Turath - Fihr…. The text was edited by Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Ghumari and published by the King Fahd National Library in Saudi Arabia Diwan al-Sunna - Qism al-….