Age of Bulugh for women (1)

Sorry for the long gap between last post - my wife surprised me by coming to London last week (when I was planning to write these blogs)! Anyway, after some discussions, I think it makes sense to start a new topic (new book by Saanei)...enjoy!


Majority View

Saanei says that the majority of scholars use the following two main methods of deriving the rule that girls become baligh at 9 or whenever the girl has her first period (depending on what is earlier):

1. Hadith study
2. Ijma’

After discussing each of these, he then puts forward his views and methodology for deriving that getting your period is the main arbitrator, with 13 being the age limit.


1. Hadith Study

There are two types of hadith that are used:
1. The narrations that say that a girl comes out of childhood at 9 and the fact that the laws then apply
2. Narrations that say that at that age you are allowed to marry and do similar things

Type 1

Narration 1: “A young girl is not like a young boy. When a young girl marries and it is consummated [lit: husband enters her] and she is 9, she no longer remains an orphan and her property is given to her, and she has the right to buy and sell, and the Islamic law is applicable to her in its entirety…”

Narration 2: Someone asked if 9 is the correct age for the application of Islamic law, if the young girl has not yet got the signs of a woman in terms of having a period, to Abu Ja’far, and he replied: “Yes, if her husband has entered her and she is 9, then she no longer remains an orphan, and her property is given to her and all the Islamic laws are applied to her”

Narration 3: “When a young man reaches 13, good and bad deeds are written about him, and he is punishable. And when a young woman reaches 9, the same thing happens. And that is because she has her period at 9”

Narration 4: “When a young woman reaches 9, her property is given to her, she has the authority of her money and all the Islamic law is applicable to her”

Narration 5: “The limit of bulugh for a woman is 9”


Response 1: the age of 9 is not enough by itself – there must be other factors as well (so 9 is actually irrelevant)

In response to this, the first two narrations have the age of together with the fact that she is married and the husband enters her. These narrations do not show that 9 by itself is the maximum age of bulugh but that the age of 9 together with these extra factors are needed, because if she is married, that means she has reached the physical maturity required to get married.

In fact these narrations seem to suggest that 9 is not the main aim of these two ahadith, but in fact it shows that you need to be strong enough in terms of bodily growth that they naturally have the other signs of bulugh like growth of hair in the pubic region or having a period.

It is true that in the second hadith, it is based on if there is no period, except that this is a very rare situation, as well as the fact that this situation would naturally also include other signs such as the growing of hair in the pubic area.

The point is that the age of 9 is only there, when it also has these other facts, and thus is an indicative factor rather than a factor in itself, and this is clear because nobody says that you reach the age of bulugh when you also marry.


Response 2: the reason is the other factors not being 9

The third hadith makes it clear that the young girl becomes baligh because she gets her period, and if she does not get her period, she does not become baligh.


Response 3: there are other reasons
Assuming that the age of 9 in the final two narrations are meant in an absolute sense, they are still there together with the other factors such as marriage or having their period.

Response 4
Those which do not mention marriage or period (4th and 5th hadith) directly have problems: they both have gaps in the chain of narration.

The fourth also does not mention the age by itself but also the fact that she has to be able to spend her money, and this only happens after the person is mature:

Quran 4: 6: “then if you find in them maturity of intellect, make over to them their property”

And this maturity is when adult decisions are made rather than childish ones, and this accompanies when a woman gets her period and the other signs of bulugh.

The fifth narration only implies that the limit is 9 but it could mean the minimum limit.


Overall, the 5 narrations, in spite of the fact:

1. Weakness of Abd al Aziz al-Abdi in the chain of the first
2. The fact that Yazid al-Kanaasi is not known in the chain of the second
3. The fourth and fifth have gaps in the chain of narration

In spite of these facts, even if we accept them, the age of 9 is always accompanied with another factor such as being ready for marriage, or getting one’s period, or maturity or growth.