In Islamic

legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...

terminology, bāligh (, adult) or mukallāf (, responsible) or muhallāq (, tendril, mentally matured) or murāhiq (, adolescent) or muhtalim (, pubescent) refers to someone who has reached maturity or

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...

, and has full responsibility under

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

Quran

The Qur'an refers to puberty in 6:152; 12:22; 17:34; 18:82: 22:5; 28:14; 40:67: 46:15 and 3 times in chapter 24

An-Nur An-Nur () is the List of chapters in the Quran, 24th chapter of the Quran with 64 verse (poetry), verses. The surah takes its name, An Nur, from verse 35. Summary *1 This Surah, chapter Waḥy, revealed from Jannah, heaven *2-3 Law relating t ...

(31, 58, 59), where reference is made to a prepubescent child's unawareness of sexual matters, which allows him or her to be with an adult whose state of dress would preclude more mature individuals from being present. One includes children who have not reached puberty in a list of those before whom woman may adopt a more relaxed standard of dress than what is normally stipulated in the verse 31 of

(24:31). The other makes a distinction between children who have reached puberty and those who have not, with the latter having access to parents who might be in a state of undress.

Hadith

Before the age of puberty, a person's faults and crimes are not generally considered as irrevocable according to the hadith. According to another hadith, at starting puberty, the recording angels start recording bad deeds such as missing regular prayers. Prophet of Islam

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

told Muslims to order seven-year-old children to pray, (gently) tap them if they refuse to pray at the age of ten, and to separate their bed then. In another hadith of Abu Dawood, Muhammad also said, bathing is obligatory in the weekend day of Jumuah prayer (Friday) for every male who reached puberty.

Jurisprudence

In Islam, human life is divided into two parts, the first is before adolescence or childhood, when man is considered innocent, and the second is after adolescence (''bulugiyat'') or adulthood, when the Islamic law is fully applied to man and the hereafter is judged. If a person dies before he becomes an adult, he is considered to be in heaven. According to Islamic jurists, human irads or niyah or qasd or free will, aqal or ability to judge right and wrong, and courage are formed before the age of puberty (''Tamyiz'') and between the age of puberty, and after the age of puberty (''Taklif''), his intellect (''Aql''), that is, wisdom and judgment, attains perfection. Therefore, from childhood, that is, before the age of seven, the child is taught the Kitab (knowledge), adab,

ibadah ''Ibadah'' (, ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as “worship”, and ''ibadat''—the plural of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurisprudence ( ...

, and taharat, because at this time the child is easily fit to receive education.

Lifespan

According to

Abu Hanifa Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...

and

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

, the minimum age for puberty in boys is approximately 12 lunar years, and in the absence of symptoms, approximately 15 lunar years to a maximum of 18 lunar years may be considered, or may vary by geographical region; in the case of boys, the characteristics or signs of puberty, pubic hair growth and semen discharge (wet dreams). The minimum age of puberty for girls is approximately 9 lunar years and if no symptoms are found, it can be considered as approximately 15 lunar years to maximum 17 or 18 lunar years, or may vary by geographical region. The characteristics or signs of puberty in girls are pubic hair, menstruation, wet dreams and the ability to conceive. However, according to Nawawi, the age of 15 lunar year is self-evident for both boys and girls to become full adults.

In marriage

In Islamic legal terminology, ''baligh'' refers to a person who has reached maturity,

or adulthood and has full responsibility under

. Legal theorists assign different ages and criteria for reaching this state for both males and females. For women, ''baligh'' or ''balaghat'' in terms of

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

is manifested by

menses Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...

. However, only after a separate condition called ''rushd'', or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a girl receive her bridewealth.Masud, ''Islamic Legal Interpretation, Muftis and Their Fatwas'',

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Press, 1996

Notes