(1) At times this may indeed happen between two competitors: the person who puts up the stake may intend to train the one he races, help him develop his horsemanship, and enjoy for himself the thrill of victory and gain—especially when he is racing someone he is eager to teach, such as his own son, servant, and the like. (2) Such a sponsor might even hold back in speed or skill so that the other outstrips him, delights in the outcome, and then receives the prize that was offered. Occurrences of this kind do take place, yet they are not the rule; what usually happens is that peers race one another, whereas the first situation is a teacher racing a learner.

(3) The point, then, is that this is not the standard form of jaʿālah, even though scholars themselves disagree about jaʿālah. (4) A group of jurists have pronounced it invalid, placing it in the category of risky transactions and gambling.

(5) They argue that the work involved is unspecified; for when someone says, “Whoever returns my runaway slave shall have such-and-such,” or, “Whoever cures my patient shall have such-and-such,” neither the scope of the work nor its time frame is defined.

(6) This is the view held by some of the Ẓāhirīs.

The majority, however, take the opposite position, and that view is unquestionably correct.