The liability of a boy after reaching puberty for what he destroyed before puberty
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He asks: Is a boy held liable after reaching puberty for what he did before puberty, such as theft or other things? And is he required to return it?
Answer:
In matters of destruction, people do not look at whether one has reached puberty or not, nor do they look at whether one is insane or sane, nor at whether it is an animal or a human. These acts of destruction are guaranteed to their owners and are never waived. This leniency applies only to the rights of Allah; as for the rights of creation, they are not dropped except by the leniency of their owners themselves.
He asks: Is a boy held liable after reaching puberty for what he did before puberty, such as theft or other things? And is he required to return it?
Answer:
In matters of destruction, people do not look at whether one has reached puberty or not, nor do they look at whether one is insane or sane, nor at whether it is an animal or a human. These acts of destruction are guaranteed to their owners and are never waived. This leniency applies only to the rights of Allah; as for the rights of creation, they are not dropped except by the leniency of their owners themselves.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب أمر الصبي بالصلاة تمرينا لا وجوبا — islamhouse.com (1:03:44)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.