The Limit of Puberty: A Twelve-Year-Old Boy

Question

Question: Zayd says that a twelve-year-old boy becomes adult. Is his statement correct according to the Shari‘a or not? What is the Shari‘a ruling on this?

Answer

The minimum period of a boy’s puberty is twelve years. So if a twelve-year-old boy says, “I am adult,” his statement is legally taken into account (mu‘tabar). If the boy does not say so, and no sign appears in him either, then on the completion of fifteen years he will be declared adult. Thus in “al-Durr al-Mukhtar”.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.