– The hidden form of burying a child alive (al-waʾd al-khafī): the initial consonant carries a fatḥa and is followed by a silent hamza. The Arabs say, waʾada al-rajulu ibnatahu, yaʾidu-hā waʾdan—“A man buried his daughter alive,” and she is then called a mawʾūdah. Allah the Exalted says, “And when the infant girl who was buried alive is asked (8) for what sin she was killed (9)” (Sūrat al-Takwīr 81:8-9).

Since ʿazl destroys the sperm by discharging it outside the vagina, it was compared to this hidden form of infanticide, whose killing leaves no visible trace; it is, in essence, the ending of a life, even if that life is still remote from actual existence.