— If there are three contestants, each must receive one-third.
— If there are four, each is to receive one-quarter, and the same rule applies to any higher number, because (1) if the allotment is not made in this way—so that (2) one or more shots remain unassigned—the group cannot all share in them.

Subsidiary Issue
If a group concludes the contract for an archery contest and only afterwards intends to divide itself into two teams, there are two opinions:

1. The first states that the contract is valid. This view was chosen by al-Qadi and is the position of al-Shafi‘i, for a designation that occurs later is treated as though it were simultaneous with the contract.

2. The second opinion rules that it is invalid, because designation is a prerequisite that was absent at the moment of contracting, and before the division it is still undetermined who belongs to each of the two teams (3)(4).

According to this latter view, once they do divide up, that division marks the beginning of the contract; it is also possible that a fresh contract must be drawn up after the division, which is the position mentioned in al-Mughni (5).