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Draft:Bulūgh of Girls

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Puberty in girls (Arabic: بلوغ البنات) refers to a developmental stage at which girls, according to Islamic law, become legally and religiously accountable and are therefore obligated to observe religious duties. According to the fatwa of jurists, reaching the age of Taklif, seeing menstrual blood, wet dream, the growth of coarse hair under the abdomen (pubic hair), and pregnancy are the five signs of bulugh (maturity) for girls, and upon the realization of one of them, girls are considered mature (bāligha).

Jurists differ on the age at which girls are considered to have reached bulugh (religious maturity). Most Shi'a jurists hold that girls reach bulugh after completing nine lunar years. A lunar year is based on the moon and is about eleven days shorter than a solar (Gregorian) year, meaning nine lunar years correspond to roughly eight years and nine months in the Gregorian calendar. At this point, girls are regarded as religiously accountable and obligated to perform religious duties.

Other jurists maintain that thirteen years should be considered the age of bulugh for girls. A third view draws a distinction between different religious obligations, holding that girls may be considered mature for some duties at the age of ten, while full religious responsibility applies at thirteen.

Concept and Status

Main article: Bulugh

Bulugh is a jurisprudential term that refers to reaching a stage of life at which a person becomes religiously responsible under Islamic law. Upon attaining bulugh, religious obligations apply to the individual, meaning they are required to observe religious duties and rulings.[1]

Most jurists have traditionally held that girls reach bulugh at the age of nine (based on the lunar calendar). In the modern period, however, this view has attracted increasing scholarly and social debate. Critics have raised concerns about the implications of assigning religious obligation, legal responsibility, and issues such as permission of marriage at such an early age.[2]

In response, a number of contemporary jurists have revisited the issue by re-examining foundational scriptural sources, transmitted narrations, and the opinions of early jurists, with the aim of reassessing how the concept of bulugh should be understood and applied in present-day contexts.[3]

Natural Signs of Bulugh in Girls

Natural signs of bulugh refer to physical and biological changes that appear in the bodies of girls and are identified in Islamic narrations attributed to the Infallible Imams (a) as indicators of maturity. These signs are understood as observable bodily developments that signal the transition into religious and legal responsibility within Islamic law.[4] These signs include:

Menstruation (Hayd)

Main article: Hayd

Shi'a jurists, drawing on transmitted narrations, regard the onset of menstruation (hayd) as one of the natural signs of bulugh in girls.[5] According to one juristic view, menstruation is understood to occur no earlier than the age of nine. On this basis, any bleeding observed before that age— even if it resembles menstrual blood in appearance—is not treated as menstruation in legal terms, whereas bleeding that occurs after the age of nine is regarded as menstrual and is subject to its specific rulings.[6]

Within this framework, menstruation functions as a sign of bulugh primarily in cases where a girl's exact age is unknown, rather than as an independent criterion when age can be reliably determined.[7]

Pregnancy

Main article: Pregnancy

Some jurists have considered pregnancy a sign of girls' bulugh because it indicates the discharge of semen and menstrual blood.[8] According to al-Shaykh al-Tusi, a woman naturally does not become pregnant before she menstruates. On the other hand, pregnancy results from the mixing of the semen of a man and a woman. Therefore, pregnancy is considered a sign of bulugh because it necessitates menstruation and the discharge of semen.[9]

Wet Dream (Ihtilam) and Growth of Coarse Hair

See also: Ihtilam

Ihtilam (wet dream), or the discharge of semen, is commonly cited by Shi'a jurists as a sign of bulugh for both girls and boys.[10] Some jurists, however, have argued that women do not experience wet dreams in the same manner as men and therefore regard ihtilam and the discharge of semen as signs specific to males.[11]

By contrast, jurists such as Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Tabataba'i Yazdi maintain that women can also experience wet dreams and describe the opposing view—that denies this possibility—as weak and unsubstantiated.[12]

In addition, the growth of coarse hair in the lower abdominal or pubic area is widely recognized by jurists as another physical sign of bulugh that applies to both girls and boys. This sign is understood as an observable bodily change associated with the onset of sexual maturity and is typically used as an indicator of bulugh in cases where age is uncertain or cannot be reliably established.[13]

Age of Bulugh for Girls

Main article: Age of Taklif

Some jurists consider age as one of the main signs of bulugh;[14] however, there are different views on the age at which girls reach bulugh:

Nine Years Old

According to the widely accepted view among Shi'a jurists, girls reach bulugh upon completing nine lunar years, which is approximately equivalent to eight years, eight months, and about twenty days in the solar (Gregorian) calendar.[15] This position is primarily based on what jurists describe as mustafīḍ narrations—that is, a large body of transmitted reports—from the Infallible Imams (a).[16]

Yusuf al-Bahrani (d. 1772), known as Saib al-Hada'iq, regarded the number of narrations indicating nine years as the age of bulugh for girls to be extensive and compelling,[17] while Sayyid Ahmad Khwansari considered the ruling to be free from serious doubt or objection due to the abundance of such reports.[18]

At the same time, a number of contemporary researchers argue that these narrations reflect specific historical and social conditions rather than a universally fixed biological rule.[19] For instance, Muhammad Ibrahim Jannati maintains that the narrations do not establish a single, absolute age applicable to all contexts. Instead, he suggests that the varying ages mentioned in the sources can be explained by differences in climate, environment, genetics, physical development, and nutrition.[20]


Yousef Sanei likewise argued that these narrations conflict with the principle of ease in religion, as they place heavy religious and legal responsibilities—including the application of full legal penalties (hudud)—on girls as young as nine years old. He maintained that girls at this age are generally physically weak, have not yet completed their bodily development, and lack the capacity required for responsibilities such as marriage. On this basis, he questioned the applicability of such narrations to contemporary contexts.[21]

Ten Years Old

Jurists such as al-Shaykh al-Tusi in the book al-Mabsut[22] and Ibn Hamza al-Tusi, a jurist of the 6th/12th century in the book al-Wasila, have introduced ten years as the age of bulugh for girls.[23] The evidence for this view is considered to be Shādhdh narrations (Anomalous hadiths)[24] which refer to the age of ten.[25]

According to the report of Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, al-Shaykh al-Tusi and Ibn Hamza retracted this opinion in their other books and issued fatwas in agreement with the famous view.[26] Some jurists have also interpreted these narrations, saying that ten years means the completion of nine years, and thus they do not contradict the famous view.[27]

Thirteen Years Old

Among contemporary Shi'a jurists, figures such as Muhammad Ishaq al-Fayyad[28] and Yousef Sanei[29] have held that the age of taklif (religious accountability) for girls is thirteen years. Their position relies primarily on a narration transmitted by 'Ammar al-Sabati from Imam al-Sadiq (a).[30] According to this narration, the age of taklif is set at thirteen years for both boys and girls, without distinction between the two.[31]

Differentiation Between Various Duties

According to Sayyid Mujtaba Nurmufidi, a researcher and lecturer at the Qom Seminary, some other jurists have differentiated between various duties to reconcile different narrations.[32] For example, al-Fayd al-Kashani (d. 1091/1680) considered the age of taklif for girls to be thirteen years in individual matters such as prayer and fasting, nine years in the execution of hudud, and ten years in matters such as manumission (ʿitq) and will.[33]

Muhammad Sadiqi Tehrani, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, believes that the age of bulugh in matters such as prayer and other rational duties is ten years for both girls and boys, and thirteen years for fasting, for which physical ability is the criterion.[34]

Notes

  1. ↑ Jamʿī az nivīsandagān, Farhang-i fiqh-i Fārsī, 1387 Sh, vol. 2, p. 135.
  2. ↑ Nūrmufīdī, Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi bulūgh-i dukhtarān, 1395 Sh, p. 20.
  3. ↑ For example, see: Mihrīzī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, 1376 Sh, pp. 10–18.
  4. ↑ Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, pp. 149–158, 175–182; Subḥānī, Al-Bulūgh, 1439 AH, pp. 15–18, 72–78.
  5. ↑ For example, see: Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 282; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 191.
  6. ↑ Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, 1414 AH, vol. 14, p. 198; Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, p. 163.
  7. ↑ For example, see: al-Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, 1413 AH, vol. 1, p. 57, vol. 4, p. 146; Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, p. 175.
  8. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Kashf al-ghiṭāʾ, 1422 AH, vol. 1, p. 254; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1404 AH, vol. 26, p. 45.
  9. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 283.
  10. ↑ For example, see: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 84; Shahīd al-Thānī, Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, 1410 AH, vol. 2, p. 144; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 185; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 14.
  11. ↑ Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, p. 154.
  12. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, Al-ʿUrwa al-wuthqā, 1417 AH, vol. 1, p. 505.
  13. ↑ For example, see: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 84; Shahīd al-Thānī, Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, 1410 AH, vol. 2, p. 144; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 185; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 14.
  14. ↑ Muʾassisa Dāʾirat Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, Mawsūʿat al-fiqh al-Islāmī, 2011, vol. 21, p. 210.
  15. ↑ For example, see: Baḥrānī, Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, 1363 Sh, vol. 20, p. 348.
  16. ↑ Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, p. 159; for example, see: Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1416 AH, vol. 20, p. 101.
  17. ↑ Baḥrānī, Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 13, p. 182.
  18. ↑ Khwānsārī, Jāmiʿ al-madārik, 1405 AH, vol. 3, p. 365.
  19. ↑ For example, see: Jannātī, "Bulūgh az dīdgāh-i fiqh-i ijtihādī", p. 42; Maʿrifat, "Bulūgh-i dukhtarān", pp. 172–173.
  20. ↑ Jannātī, "Bulūgh az dīdgāh-i fiqh-i ijtihādī", p. 42.
  21. ↑ Ṣāniʿī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, 1386 Sh, p. 35.
  22. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 1, p. 266.
  23. ↑ Ibn Ḥamza Ṭūsī, Al-Wasīla, 1408 AH, p. 137.
  24. ↑ Baḥrānī, Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, 1363 Sh, vol. 13, p. 182.
  25. ↑ For example, see: Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, 1416 AH, vol. 20, pp. 101-102.
  26. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1404 AH, vol. 26, p. 38.
  27. ↑ Shūshtarī, Al-Nujʿa, 1406 AH, vol. 4, p. 411; Subḥānī, Al-Bulūgh, 1439 AH, p. 39.
  28. ↑ "Taghyīr-i fatwā-yi yikī az marājiʿ-i taqlīd darbāra-yi sinn-i taklīf-i dukhtarān", News Agency-yi Hawzah.
  29. ↑ Ṣāniʿī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, 1386 Sh, pp. 35–36.
  30. ↑ Rajāʾī, Al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, 1421 AH, p. 168.
  31. ↑ Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ aḥādīth al-Shīʿa, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 353.
  32. ↑ Nūrmufīdī, Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi bulūgh-i dukhtarān, 1395 Sh, pp. 252-253.
  33. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mafātīḥ al-sharāʾiʿ, Library of Ayatollah Marashi Najafi, vol. 1, p. 14.
  34. ↑ Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, Risāla tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i novīn, 1384 Sh, p. 36.

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