Wrestling. The Prophet wrestled with a number of men, one of whom was Rukanah ibn `Abd Yazid ibn Hashim ibn `Abdul-Muttalib, who lived in Makkah and was a skillful wrestler. People used to come to him from distant territories and challenge him in wrestling. Ibn Ishaq narrated the story of Rukanah: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) met him in one of the mountain paths of Makkah, whereupon he said to him, "O Rukanah! Will not you fear Allah and accept what I am calling you to?" Rukanah replied, "O Muhammad! Do you have a witness to verify your truthfulness?" So the Prophet said, "If I beat you in wrestling, will you believe in Allah and His Messenger?" The man replied, "Yes." The Prophet wrestled him and defeated him. Rukanah was astonished with that, and he asked the Prophet to acquit him of their agreement, which is belief, and to have a rematch. So they had a second and a third rematch where the Prophet also defeated him. Rukanah was astonished and said, "This is very strange indeed!" Then he immediately embraced Islam. Other narrations state that he embraced Islam after the conquest (fath)of Makkah" (Al-Hakim, Abu Dawud, and At-Tirmidhi).
The Prophet also wrestled with Abu Al-Aswad Al-Jumahi, who was so strong that he would stand on a cow hide, and ten men would pull the hide to take it from under his feet, but in the end, the hide would be torn and he had not moved an inch.
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2) Whenever an army of Mujahidin moved out from Madinah, Rasulullah
(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) first inspected them to ensure that nothing
was lacking in men and equipment. If anyone was underage, he would send them
back to Madinah. While setting out for Uhud, Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi
Wasallam) carried out this inspection. He ordered the young boys to go back.
Among them were 'Abdullah bin Umar, Zaid-bin-Thabit, Usamah-bin-Zaid,
Zaid-bin-Arqam, Baraa-bin-Aazib, 'Amr*bin-Hazam, Usaid-bin-Zuhair,
'Urabah-bin-Aus, Abu Said Khudri, Sumurah-bin-Jundub and Raf'e-bin- Khadij.
All of them had just entered their teens. Khadij said to the Prophet
((Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam), 'O Prophet of Allah! My son Rafe'e is a very
good archer.' Rafe'e too stood on his toes to show himself taller than he
actual was. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) permitted him to stay
on. When Samrah bin Jundub learnt about this, he complained to his
step-father Murrah bin Sanaan saying, 'Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi
Wasallam) has permitted Raf'ee and rejected me, while I am sure to beat him
in a wrestling contest and, therefore, I was more deserving of the Prophet's
favour.' This was reported to Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam), who
allowed Samrah to prove his claim by wrestling with Rafe. Samrah did
actually beat Rafe in the bout and he too was permitted to stay in the army.
In view of the above two incidents, it is clear that wrestling itself is a
permissible (Mubaah) skill that obtained Deeni benefits. In principle, one
may follow a Mubaah act on condition it is not contaminated with anything
un-Islamic. Some of the un-Islamic factors which may render wrestling
prohibited are: a) Being commercialized venture, hence, un-Islamic factors,
intermingling of sexes, exposure of Satar, etc. b) Being unmindful of
Salaat.
and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
