the shot that lands farther away. If, by that very stipulation, one of them surpasses his companion, he is deemed the winner. This was stated by Qāḍī Abū Yaʿlā, and it is likewise the position of al-Shāfiʿī (1), because the arrangement is a form of offset scoring (muḥāṭṭah).

Thus, if one archer’s arrow falls a handspan from the mark while the other’s lands at a point less than a handspan away, the first archer’s shot is cancelled. If the first archer actually strikes the target, the second is cancelled; but if the second merely hits the inner circle drawn on the target, the first is not cancelled, for the entire face of the target counts as a valid scoring area. Consequently, neither of them gains an advantage when they both strike it—unless they explicitly agree otherwise.

If they stipulate that only one of them may count his khāsiqah (2)—a shot whose arrowhead pierces the target—as two hits, the condition is invalid, for it is unjust and aggressive. If, however, they stipulate that each of them may count his khāsiqah as two hits, the condition is valid, because neither archer is given an advantage over the other and they remain equal in that regard.

Section

When the archery match is left unrestricted, and the archers have a continuous, well-established custom, the contract follows that custom even if they do not expressly articulate it.