The word sabaq, pronounced with an open sīn and bāʾ, denotes the khatar (1)—the stake that is put up for the wager. This was the view adopted by the followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad (2).

Another group contended that the report is definitive, not abrogated, and that those who claim it was abrogated have produced no proof that must be followed. They argued: Wagering (rihān) was never forbidden in its entirety, for the Prophet ﷺ himself placed a wager on a horse race, as has already been mentioned. What is prohibited is wagering on falsehood that yields no benefit in religion, whereas staking a wager on something that raises the banners, proofs, and evidences of Islam—as al-Ṣiddīq once did—is the very essence of truth and even more deserving of permissibility than wagering on archery or on horse and camel races, because its impact (3) on the religion is greater. Religion stands upon proof and evidence, as well as upon the sword and the spear (4); its primary establishment is by proof, with the sword coming only thereafter (5).

They continued: If the Lawgiver has permitted wagering on archery and on horse and camel races—because such activities encourage the learning of horsemanship and the preparation of strength for jihad—then allowing it in contests and competitions devoted to knowledge and proof—