the two camels at once. If one of them is released before the other to see whether the other will catch up or not, this is not permissible in a race involving compensation (iwad), because he might not catch up despite being faster due to the distance between them. There should be someone at the start of the distance to witness their release and arrange them, and at the goal, someone to verify which of them outstripped to prevent disagreement. In horses, outstripping is achieved by the head if the necks are equal. If they differ in the length of the neck, or if this is in camels, outstripping is considered by the shoulder, because taking the head into account is impossible; for the long-necked one might have his head outstrip due to the length of his neck, not the speed of his running. In camels, some raise their heads and some stretch their necks, so their head might outstrip due to the stretching of the neck, not because they outstripped. Therefore, we consider the shoulder. If the head of the short-necked one outstrips, then he is the one who outstripped, because it is necessary that he is the one who outstripped. If the long-necked one outstrips by more than the difference in neck length, he has outstripped; if by the same amount, he has not outstripped; and if by less, the other one is the winner. All of this is the view of al-Shafi'i. Al-Thawri said: If one of them outstrips by an ear, he is the winner. This is not correct, because one of them might raise his head while the other stretches his neck, so he outstrips by his ear due to that, not due to being faster. If they stipulate outstripping by a known number of feet, such as three or more or less, it is not valid. Some of the followers of al-Shafi'i said: It is valid, and they estimate the distance, as in shooting. This is not correct because this cannot be precisely determined, and the horses do not stop at the goal in a way that the space between them can be measured. Al-Daraqutni reported with his chain of narration from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to Ali: 'I have assigned this race to you among the people.' So Ali went out and called Suraqah ibn Malik and said: 'O Suraqah, I have assigned to you what the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) placed upon my neck of this race, so you take it on your neck. When you reach the Mitan'—Abu Abd al-Rahman said: 'The Mitan is the one who releases them.'