On the authority of Jaber bin Omair or Jaber bin Abdullah, that the Messenger of God – may God’s prayers and peace be upon him – said: “Everything that is not from the remembrance of God Almighty is idle talk, idleness or oversight, except for four qualities: a man walks between the two purposes, disciplines his horse, plays with his family and learns swimming.”
It was narrated by Al-Nasa’i in “Al-Kubra” and Al-Bazzar in “Kashf Al-Astar”, Al-Tabarani in “Al-Kabeer”, and Al-Mundhiri in “Al-Targheeb”, and Al-Haythami said in “Al-Majma’”: Al-Tabarani narrated it in “Al-Awsat” and “Al-Kabir” and Al-Bazzar, and Al-Tabarani’s men are men of Sahih, except Abdul Wahhab bin Bakht, a trust. And Ibn Hajar corrected it in the translation of Jaber bin Omair from Al-Isbah. Al-Albani said in “Al-Sahihah”: This is a valid chain of narration, its men are trustworthy Muslim men other than Abd al-Wahhab bin Bakht, and he is trustworthy by agreement.
What is meant by the word “vain” is that it will not be rewarded, and it does not mean that it is a sin or a sin, but rather there is no benefit from it, because amusement other than these four is play, and not every play is forbidden.
Imam Ibn Taymiyyah said in “Al-Istiqama”: “The falsehood of deeds is that which does not have any benefit, and this grants concessions to souls who are not patient with that which benefits, and this right is in the amount that is needed in times that require that for holidays, weddings, the arrival of the absent, and so on.. .”.
This was confirmed by Al-Shawkani in his book “Nil Al-Awtar”, where he cited Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali by saying: “It is false”: it does not indicate the prohibition, but rather the uselessness.
This hadith raises the level of amusement with horses, as it takes away from permissible things without benefit to a noble work for which a person will be rewarded.
