Investigating the Religious Maturity Age of Girls and Critiquing the Viewpoint of Girls' Maturity at the Age of Thirteen

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Payame Noor University, Department of Fiqh and Law, Tehran, Iran, Corresponding Author: hosain_esmaily@pnu.ac.ir

2 Faculty Member and Associate Professor of Fiqh and Foundations of Islamic Law, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran: jamshidirad@pnu.ac.ir

Abstract

The aim of this research is to prove the religious maturity of girls at the age of nine and to
critique the view of girls' maturity at the age of thirteen. Maturity marks the beginning of the period of religious obligation; therefore, examining its religious age seems essential. The question of this research is whether there is clear evidence for the maturity of girls at the age of thirteen? The famous evidences for determining nine years as the age of girls' maturity warrant examination; in numerous narrations, the age of girls' maturity is explicitly stated as nine years. The narration of Ammar Sabati, which states the maturity age for both girls and boys as thirteen years, is questionable from certain perspectives. Assuming a conflict exists between them, preference is given to the famous view because it has narrative and jurisprudential prominence. On the other hand, there is consensus on the maturity of girls at nine years; jurists such as Sheikh Tusi, Allamah Hilli, and Ibn Idris Hilli have expressed it with phrases like "consensus of the sect, no disagreement among us." A question that may arise in this regard is that fasting is difficult for girls at this age; what is the solution to overcome this problem? In response, it should be noted that there is no deadlock in religious obligations; this issue can be resolved using the rule of necessity, such that if fasting is unbearable for them, they can abstain from fasting and make up for it after the problem is resolved. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical, library-based, and ijtihadi.

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History

  • Receive Date: 26 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 26 October 2025
  • First Publish Date: 26 October 2025

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