Bullseye!!

Assalamualaikum! Peace, blessings and the Mercy of Allah be upon you all!

Alhamdulillah... today marks yet another new history and experience in the beautiful life of Faisal Abdul Latif, by the Grace of Allah. Me and my good friend, brother Shafik, joined in the Miri Novice 9 Archery Tournament.

Sure, we only started playing like a couple of months ago - but that didn't stop our burning ambition to put our skillz to the test! And to revive the sunnah of the Prophet of course insya Allah!

Motive also made sweeter, of course, by the fact that, the first prize is a brand new bow. Ain't no one gonna tell me that ain't worth a shot, yo!

Sure, it did feel awkward that me and Shafik were the only participants there with jenggots - not because they shaved, but because they didn't have any in the first place - besides us, pretty much everyone else in the competition were school kids. Haha. But subhanAllah these kids were good... it was a tough fight indeed.

But TabarakAllah.. Alhamdulillah I got 3rd place! nice!! =)

Can anybody spot the 2 dudes with the jenggots?

We picked up this newfound hobby only about 2 months ago, after we met with the Miri Coach who inspired us to join. And we've been pretty much hooked every since. It's a very enjoyable sport, but most importantly what makes it so much more meaningful than mere 'sport' is that it is actually an activity which was encouraged by the greatest man that ever walked the Earth - Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)!

Hadhrat Ibn Umar (ra) narrates that Rasulullah (saws) said: "Teach your sons swimming and archery and teach your daughters sewing" (Baihaqi)

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).

It really is quite apparent from these ahadeeth (i.e. sayings of the Prophet) that the Muslim character is always encouraged to keep himself strong and sharp.

Alhamdulillah that we have been given the ability to pursue this new hobby, and insya Allah it is hoped that this is one positive step towards encouraging people to follow and love the sunnah of the Prophet (SAW)! Go Go Archery Team SKO!

The Miri brotherhood of Archery