The fifth case is his statement: “Or he chokes him,” meaning, he cuts off his breathing, whether with a rope, by securing some substance that obstructs breathing, or the like.

Thus, choking is deemed deliberate killing. Strangely, al-Rawd (1) says: “Or he crushes his testicles.” Does this fall under choking? Yes.

If he places his hand over his mouth but not his nose, this is not choking, because he can still breathe. Likewise, if he places his hand over his nose but not his mouth, this is not choking. But if he places his hand over both his nose and mouth, then this is choking.

The sixth case is his statement: “Or he confines him and withholds food or drink from him, so that he dies as a result within a period in which a person would ordinarily die.” Thus, if he confines him and gives him neither water nor food until he dies within a period in which death would ordinarily result, this is deliberate killing. This is why the Prophet ﷺ said: “A woman entered the Fire because of a cat which she confined until it died: she neither fed it nor gave it water …” (2) This is one of the forms of deliberate killing.

The period within which a person would ordinarily die differs according to heat and cold, so this is referred to those with expertise. If they say that a person’s remaining in this place, at this time, constitutes a period in which someone in his circumstances would ordinarily die, we say that it is deliberate killing.

Thus, if he confines him and withholds food and drink from him for a period in which a person would ordinarily die, this is one of the forms of deliberate killing, because when a person is deprived of food