The Book of musābaqa (racing) and munāḍala (archery contests)

Both activities are Sunnah, and it is lawful to take a monetary prize for them. A munāḍala is valid with arrows, and likewise with throwing-spears, lances, stones, catapults, and every weapon that is useful in war according to the authoritative view; it is not valid, however, with polo balls and mallets, pellet-bows, swimming, chess, the ring-guessing game, standing on one leg, or guessing what is in one’s hand.

A musābaqa is valid on horses, and—according to the stronger opinion—on elephants, mules, and donkeys as well, but not on birds; wrestling is likewise valid according to the sound view. The more evident position is that the contract for either contest is binding rather than merely permissible: neither party may annul it, abandon performance before or after the start, nor add to or subtract from its terms or from the stake.

For a race to be valid, the following conditions must be met: both competitors must know the starting point and the finish line and be equal with respect to them; the two horses must be specifically designated, after which the designation is fixed; it must be possible for either horse to win; and the amount of the stake must be known.

The prize may be supplied by a third party, as when the ruler or another member of the public says, “Whoever of you wins shall have such-and-such from the public treasury,” or, “shall have such-and-such from me.” The stake may also come from one of the contestants, as when he says, “If you beat me, I owe you such-and-such, but if I beat you, nothing is due from you.”

If they stipulate that whoever wins shall receive such-and-such from the other, the agreement is not valid unless a third competitor (muḥallil) enters whose mount is on a par with theirs. If the muḥallil beats them both, he takes both stakes. If they both beat him and reach the finish together, no one takes anything. If he reaches the finish together with one of them, that contestant keeps his own stake, while the stake of the one who finishes last goes to the muḥallil and to the contestant who tied with him—though another opinion assigns it to the muḥallil alone. If one contestant finishes first, followed by the muḥallil, and the other comes in last, the stake of the last goes to the first, according to the sounder view.