1. The first condition is the killer’s deliberate intention—that is, the will to kill.

2. The second condition is that he knows the person he intends to kill is a human being whose blood is protected.

3. The third condition is that the implement used is, in normal circumstances, fit for killing, whether it is sharp or not.

If any one of these conditions is lacking, the homicide is not deemed intentional, for the absence of intent does not warrant retaliatory execution (qiṣāṣ), and a death caused by something that is not normally fatal is considered accidental, attributable to another cause.

Through inductive survey, jurists have identified nine situations that constitute intentional homicide:

1. Wounding the victim with a penetrating object—such as a knife, a spike, and the like among sharp instruments. Al-Muwaffaq said, “To the best of our knowledge, there is no disagreement among the scholars on this point.”

2. Killing him with a heavy blunt object, like a large stone. If the stone is small, the act is not intentional unless it strikes a vital spot, or the victim is physically weak because of illness, youth, old age, extreme heat or cold, and the like, or the assailant repeatedly strikes him with the small stone or a similar object until he dies. Comparable to killing with a heavy object is toppling a wall on him, running him over with a vehicle, or throwing him from a height so that he dies.

3. Throwing him to a predatory animal, such as a lion, or to a snake; for deliberately casting him to such deadly creatures is an intentional killing by means that ordinarily bring about death.

4. Throwing him into fire or into water that will drown him and from which he cannot escape.