• Or he must abandon his own view(1) about the muhallil when the wager is furnished by both contestants, for it is impossible for a muhallil to join two wrestlers in the ring.
Whoever treats competition contracts(2) as a form of jiʿālah and therefore allows a stake to be put up in wrestling and foot-racing is logically bound to allow it(3) in every other lawful craft—and no scholar is known to have taken that position.
Should he say, “I only allow it in activities that aid and strengthen(4) warfare,” we reply: “Then allow it in every craft that produces the instruments of war; otherwise, present a steady, two-way distinction between what is permissible and what is not, and make sure that this distinction is one that the Lawgiver(5) Himself has recognized.”
Section
As for racing between horses—namely the hoofed mount(6) mentioned in the ḥadith of Abū Hurayrah—the adherents restricted it