And therein lies a subtlety. As for tent poles, they are large and usually cause death, so Al-Khiraqi did not intend them. Rather, he defined the cause for retribution as being anything larger than a fustat (tent) pole; because when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about the woman who struck her slave girl with a fustat pole, killing her and her fetus, the Prophet (peace be upon him) decreed a ghurra (compensation for a fetus) for the fetus and ordered the blood money to be paid by her 'aqilah (agnate kin). The 'aqilah does not bear the burden of intentional killing, which indicates that killing with a fustat pole is not considered intentional. If it is larger than that, it is intentional because it usually kills. Among this category is if one drops a wall, a boulder, a large piece of wood, or the like upon someone, resulting in their death, then qisas (retribution) is due because it usually kills. The second type is striking someone with a small heavy object, such as a staff, a whip, a small stone, or striking them with his hands on a vital spot, or doing so while the victim is in a state of weakness due to illness, youth, or during a time of extreme heat or cold, such that this blow kills them, or repeating the blows until they die by something that usually kills, then qisas is due; because he killed them with something that usually causes death, resembling the striking with a large heavy object. Included in this type is if one squeezes someone's testicles very hard, killing them through a squeeze that usually kills; qisas is due upon him. If it is not as described in all that we have mentioned, it is semi-intentional (shibh al-'amd), for which blood money is due, unless it is very minor, like a blow with a pen or a finger on a non-vital spot, and the like, where death is not expected; in this case, there is no qisas and no blood money, for the person did not die as a result of it. The same applies if he merely touches someone with a large object without striking them, because blood money is only required upon killing, and this does not constitute killing.

The third type is to prevent someone from breathing, which is of two sorts: first, to put a noose (khratah) around his neck and then hang him from a piece of wood or something else so that he is lifted off the ground, causing him to suffocate.