Is there any indication that a child should not be punished or beaten except at the age of discernment?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Is there ... from the Shari'ah perspective, at a specific age ...?
The Shaykh : No, there is not; because the age of puberty varies from one young person to another. However, the age of puberty for men, young men, or males is when they have a wet dream, and for women it is when they menstruate. Some girls menstruate before the age of ten, and some are delayed ... 14, 15, and so on. So the one who sees menstruation at ten, they came to her, but ... .
The questioner : I mean, is there anything indicating that a father should not punish a child—for example—? Some people say that it is not permissible to punish a child until he discerns ...?
The Shaykh : Now the question is clear. There is nothing except the well-known hadith, and from it this ruling is derived; which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Abi Dawud 495Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani), and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Abi Dawud 495Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani), and afterwards: Sunan Abi Dawud 495Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani). This means that it is not permissible to beat them when they are seven, eight, or nine years old, and nothing is more important than prayer in terms of discipline. So if it is not permissible to discipline them by beating them until they reach the age of ten, then what is greater than leaving off prayer such that they should be beaten? Is that clear?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is all I have.
The Shaykh : No, there is not; because the age of puberty varies from one young person to another. However, the age of puberty for men, young men, or males is when they have a wet dream, and for women it is when they menstruate. Some girls menstruate before the age of ten, and some are delayed ... 14, 15, and so on. So the one who sees menstruation at ten, they came to her, but ... .
The questioner : I mean, is there anything indicating that a father should not punish a child—for example—? Some people say that it is not permissible to punish a child until he discerns ...?
The Shaykh : Now the question is clear. There is nothing except the well-known hadith, and from it this ruling is derived; which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
Command your children to pray when they become seven years old, and beat them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old; and arrange their beds (to sleep) separately.
مُرُوا أبناءكم بالصلاة وهم أبناء سبع ، واضربوهم عليها وهم أبناء عشر ، وفرِّقوا بينهم في المضاجعCommand your children to pray when they become seven
مُرُوا أولادكم بالصلاة وهم أبناء سبعand beat them for it (prayer) when they become ten years old
واضربوهم عليها وهم أبناء عشرThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is all I have.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.