BENEFIT: Scholars have classified competitions and contests involving financial rewards into three categories:

1. The First Category: Competitions that are permissible both with and without financial rewards. These include competitions involving camels, horses, and archery. 2. The Second Category: Competitions that are prohibited in all cases, whether with or without financial rewards. This includes any competition that involves something unlawful or distracts from an obligatory duty. 3. The Third Category: Competitions that are permissible without financial rewards. These include any competition that provides a lawful benefit and does not cause harm. 5. It is considered a non-binding contract as long as the superiority of one party has not become evident. However, if one party's superiority becomes apparent in the competition, the contract remains non-binding only from the side of the superior party, granting them the right to annul it, while the disadvantaged party does not have this right. This is because if both parties were given the right to annul the contract, it would undermine the purpose of the competition. If a participant realises they are losing, they could withdraw from the competition, thereby defeating its intended purpose. 6. The competition becomes invalid if one of the competitors or one of the animals used in the competition dies. 7. It is disliked for the referee or the audience to praise or criticise any of the competitors. ---------------- المسألة الثالثة: شروط أخذ العوض في المسابقة Conditions for Taking a Prize in a Competition It is not permissible to receive financial rewards except in competitions involving horses, camels, and archery, subject to five conditions: 1. The participants in the competition must be identified, whether they are archers in archery or riders in a race, which must be done through observation. 2. The equipment or animals used must be of the same kind & type in the competition, such as similar types of horses in a race or similar types of bows in archery. Competitions between an Arab and a hybrid breed, or between an Arab bow and a Persian one, are not valid. 3. The distance or goal must be clearly defined, either through observation or measurement. NOTE: Determining the shooting distance in archery should be based on customary practice. Scholars have stated that if the distance is set to a point where hitting the target becomes practically impossible, the competition would not be valid. 4. The prize must be معلوم known and مباح permissible, as it involves money in a contract, and thus it must be clearly understood and permissible like other contracts. 5. The prize should come from someone other than the competitors to avoid resembling gambling. If the prize comes from one of the competitors or both, the competition is invalid. NOTE: In the context of المسابقة (competitions), the term محلل refers to a (neutral) participant included to make a competition permissible. For example, if two people compete in a race and each puts in money, with the winner taking all, this is considered ميسر (gambling). However, if a third person (محلل) joins without any financial stake, and they have a fair chance of winning, then the competition is deemed permissible. Sheikhul Islām Ibn Taymiyyah raḥimahullāh said: والذين قالوا: هذا من الفقهاء ظنوا أنه يكون قمارا، ثم منهم من قال : بالمحلل يخرج عن شبه القمار، و ليس الأمر كما قالوه، بل بالمحلل من المخاطرة وفي المحلل ظلم لأنه إذا سبق أخذ ; وإذا سبق لم يعط وغيره إذا سبق أعطي فدخول المحلل ظلم لا تأتي به الشريعة. Some of them held that the presence of a muḥallil removes the resemblance to gambling. However, this is not the case. Rather, including a muḥallil introduces an element of risk, and it involves injustice. If the muḥallil wins, he takes the prize; but if he loses, he gives nothing, whereas other competitors are required to pay if they lose. Thus, the inclusion of a muḥallil is a form of injustice that is not sanctioned by Shari'ah.