Subsidiary Issue
If one of the competitors steps back from his assigned line, is he allowed to do so? (1) One view permits it, because by moving backward he is favoring his companions, not appropriating an advantage for himself. A second view prohibits it, since doing so undermines the equality required by the contract. The Shāfiʿī school also records two views on the matter.

Likewise, when there are only two competitors, if one advances ahead of the other toward the target, it is not permitted. But if he falls behind him (3), the same two possibilities—and the two Shāfiʿī views—apply. Allah knows best.

Section
When one of them begins shooting from one side, the other must begin from the opposite side, so that balance is preserved between them. If the contract stipulates (4) that one of them will begin first in every round, our scholars hold that the contract is invalid, for the very aim (5) of an archery contest is parity, and this clause destroys it. Yet it can be argued that such a stipulation is permissible, because were they to agree to the same arrangement voluntarily, without inserting it into the contract, it would be valid; the order in which they start has no effect on accuracy or on the quality of the shooting.