According to al-Qadi’s opinion, the contract was already valid before the division, and the division (1) is simply the contract’s fulfillment.

Subsidiary Issue
If we adopt al-Qadi’s view, the teams may not be formed by drawing lots, for the lot might place all the skilled marksmen in one side (2) and all the inexperienced shooters (3) in the other, thereby undermining the justice that an archery contest is meant to realize.

If, on the other hand, we follow the second view, drawing lots is permissible, because the contract does not take effect until after the division. Once the lot has selected the members of one team and distinguished them from the other, the contract is binding only if both sides consent; otherwise, no contract exists between them.

The fair way to divide is for each team to appoint a captain. One captain chooses a contestant, then the other captain chooses another, and they alternate until the division is completed equitably.

It is not permissible to give all the choices to one of the two captains, nor for one of them to pick his entire team first and let the other choose afterwards, for that would violate fairness: the first captain might simply take all the expert archers for himself.