Puberty in Girls
 | This section is a general introduction to the rulings of a fiqhi topic. |
Puberty in girls refers to the stage at which, according to Islamic law, girls become religiously accountable and are therefore obligated to fulfill religious duties. Jurists identify five signs of puberty in girls: menstruation, wet dream, the growth of coarse pubic hair, pregnancy, and reaching the age of Taklif. The occurrence of any one of these signs is sufficient for a girl to be considered mature.
Jurists differ regarding the age of puberty. Most Shi'a jurists hold that girls reach puberty upon completing nine lunar years. In contrast, some jurists consider thirteen to be the age of puberty for girls. Others distinguish between different religious obligations, considering ten to be the age of puberty for some obligations and thirteen for others.
Concept and Status
Puberty is a jurisprudential term referring to reaching the age and stage of life at which a person becomes subject to religious obligations and is required to observe Islamic laws.[1]
MMost jurists have held that girls reach puberty upon completing nine years of age. Consequently, in the contemporary period, the issues of marriage, assuming responsibility, and becoming subject to religious obligations at this age have attracted attention, criticism, and discussion from various groups.[2] This has led contemporary jurists to revisit the issue by examining the relevant hadith sources and the views of earlier jurists.[3]
Natural Signs of Puberty in Girls
Physical signs of puberty 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)
Shi'a jurists, drawing on transmitted narrations, regard the onset of menstruation as one of the natural signs of puberty 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 jurisprudential 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 puberty 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
Some jurists have considered pregnancy a sign of girls' puberty 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 puberty because it necessitates menstruation and the discharge of semen.[9]
Wet Dream (Ihtilam) and Growth of Coarse Hair
Ihtilam (wet dream), or the discharge of semen, is commonly cited by Shi'a jurists as a sign of puberty 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 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 puberty 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 puberty in cases where age is uncertain or cannot be reliably established.[13]
Age of Puberty for Girls
Some jurists consider age as one of the main signs of puberty;[14] however, there are different views on the age at which girls reach puberty:
Nine Years Old
According to the widely accepted view among Shi'a jurists, girls reach puberty 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 mustafid narrations—that is, a large body of transmitted reports—from the Infallible Imams (a).[16] Yusuf al-Bahrani, regarded the number of narrations indicating nine years as the age of puberty 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]
Yusuf Sani'i 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 puberty for girls.[23] The evidence for this view is considered to be Shadhdh narrations (Anomalous reports)[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 Fayyad[28] and Yusuf Sani'i[29] have held that the age of taklif 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, 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 and will.[33]
Sadiqi Tehrani, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, believes that the age of puberty 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
- ↑ Group of Authors, Farhang-i fiqh-i Fārsī, vol. 2, p. 135.
- ↑ Nūrmufīdī, Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi bulūgh-i dukhtarān, p. 20.
- ↑ See: Mihrīzī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, pp. 10–18.
- ↑ Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, pp. 149–158, 175–182; Subḥānī, al-Bulūgh, pp. 15–18, 72–78.
- ↑ See: Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 2, p. 282; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 191.
- ↑ Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 14, p. 198; Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, p. 163.
- ↑ See: al-Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-Ifhām, vol. 1, p. 57, vol. 4, p. 146; Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, p. 175.
- ↑ Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Kashf al-ghiṭāʾ, vol. 1, p. 254; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 26, p. 45.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 2, p. 283.
- ↑ See: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 2, p. 84; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, vol. 2, p. 144; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 185; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 14.
- ↑ Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, p. 154.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwa al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 505.
- ↑ See: Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām, vol. 2, p. 84; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, vol. 2, p. 144; Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 9, p. 185; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 14.
- ↑ Muʾassisa Dāʾirat Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, Mawsūʿat al-fiqh al-Islāmī, vol. 21, p. 210.
- ↑ See: Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 20, p. 348.
- ↑ Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, p. 159; See: Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 20, p. 101.
- ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 13, p. 182.
- ↑ Khwānsārī, Jāmiʿ al-madārik, vol. 3, p. 365.
- ↑ See: Jannātī, Bulūgh az dīdgāh-i fiqh-i ijtihādī, p. 42; Maʿrifat, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, pp. 172–173.
- ↑ Jannātī, Bulūgh az dīdgāh-i fiqh-i ijtihādī, p. 42.
- ↑ Ṣāniʿī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, p. 35.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 1, p. 266.
- ↑ Ibn Ḥamza al-Ṭūsī, al-Wasīla, p. 137.
- ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 13, p. 182.
- ↑ See: Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa, vol. 20, pp. 101-102.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 26, p. 38.
- ↑ Shūshtarī, al-Nujʿa, vol. 4, p. 411; Subḥānī, al-Bulūgh, p. 39.
- ↑ "Taghyīr-i fatwā-yi yikī az marājiʿ-i taqlīd darbāra-yi sinn-i taklīf-i dukhtarān".
- ↑ Ṣāniʿī, Bulūgh-i dukhtarān, pp. 35–36.
- ↑ Rajāʾī, al-Masāʾil al-fiqhiyya, p. 168.
- ↑ Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ aḥādīth al-Shīʿa, vol. 1, p. 353.
- ↑ Nūrmufīdī, Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi bulūgh-i dukhtarān, pp. 252-253.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mafātīḥ al-sharāʾiʿ, vol. 1, p. 14.
- ↑ Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, Risāla tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i nuwīn, p. 36.
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