the same censure of offering it (1), nor is there any censure in taking it when it is given without being asked for.

Some adherents of this school have gone so far as to say that it is only lawful to take the prize money provided no security is pledged for it, the donor is not legally bound to pay, and the matter remains a sheer act of generosity.

Ibn Wahb said: “Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb related to me from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd that he said, ‘When a man wins in archery there is no harm, so long as it is not a case of one-for-one compensation, no pledge is taken for it, and the donor is not compelled to pay.’ ”

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā stated in his book (2): “Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUbayd narrated to me; Muḥammad ibn Salamah narrated to us; Ibn Wahb informed us,” and he mentioned the same report.

This statement shows that the compensation is never deemed obligatory, and it further stipulates that it must not be a one-for-one exchange. This seems to refer to the situation in which both parties stake money in advance, and it is one of the strictest opinions.

The same view is held by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, who said in his Tahdhīb al-Āthār (3): “If the defeated contestant refuses to hand over the stake to the victor or the superior competitor, he is not forced to do so, for the latter did not acquire it as consideration for something he provided, nor has Allah made it binding on him. It is nothing but a promise, and fulfilling it is among the finest qualities; yet if he withholds fulfillment, the judge will not compel him, because there is no disagreement among (4)…"