Is it permissible to prohibit something because it resembles a cross or because its user is an infidel?

Ibn al-Qayyim did not state that the crossbow is forbidden; rather, he dedicated a chapter to comparing it with the hand-bow, explaining that the crossbow is more effective in besieging castles and fortresses and more devastating than the hand-bow.

Ibn al-Qayyim reported a consensus on the permissibility of shooting with it, and that competing with it is neither disliked nor forbidden. He mentioned that Imam Ahmad explicitly stated the permissibility of competing with Persian bows.

He also clarified that the hadiths regarding the virtue of archery are general and encompass all types of bows, and that if any prohibition against it is authentic, it would be specific to a time when Arab bows were prevalent, and imitating other bows was considered imitating disbelievers.

As for these times, the bows of Muslim armies are Persian or Turkish, and prohibiting their use would corrupt both worldly affairs and religious matters, and would hinder jihad.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah clarified that the verse: {And prepare against them whatever you are able of power} (Quran 8:60) includes all types of strength, including what is shot with, whether by hand or by foot.

Not everything that resembles a cross takes its ruling, especially if the resemblance is unintentional on the part of the maker or user.