Al-Bulugh.
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The Shaykh : Al-Bulugh and its opposite are youth. It is not obligatory for a young child to fast, but the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) say: It is obligatory for the guardian of the young child to order him to fast if he is able to fast, to train him in worship and to make fasting easier for him when he reaches maturity. It was the practice of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) that they would make their young children fast, until one of them would cry from hunger, and they would give him a toy to play with. If the matter is like this, by what does al-bulugh occur? Al-bulugh occurs by one of three things. First, the completion of fifteen years, or the entry into it? The completion, the completion of fifteen years. Second, the growth of pubic hair. Third: the emission of semen with desire, through wet dreams or otherwise. The female has a fourth matter added, which is menstruation. So when she menstruates, she is mature, even if she menstruates at ten years of age.
And here I say that it is obligatory for us to alert the girls to this issue, because some girls menstruate while they are young and do not know that it is obligatory for them to fast, so they continue to break their fast, and perhaps they fast with their families for the whole month and do not make up the days of menstruation. So the error comes either from this or from that, meaning it comes either from not fasting or from fasting even on the days of menstruation. It is obligatory to alert the girls to this issue so that no problem arises, because we are often asked about a girl who reached maturity at thirteen years of age and did not fast, so we fall into a problem. And for such a person, it is said that it is obligatory for her to make up the two years she did not fast, except if she was in a remote place far from knowledge and the people of knowledge, and it never occurred to her at all that fasting was obligatory upon her. Such a person may be excused by ignorance, and it is not obligatory for her to make up the fasts. Now, al-bulugh and its opposite are youth. Third: Islam, intellect, and al-bulugh.
And here I say that it is obligatory for us to alert the girls to this issue, because some girls menstruate while they are young and do not know that it is obligatory for them to fast, so they continue to break their fast, and perhaps they fast with their families for the whole month and do not make up the days of menstruation. So the error comes either from this or from that, meaning it comes either from not fasting or from fasting even on the days of menstruation. It is obligatory to alert the girls to this issue so that no problem arises, because we are often asked about a girl who reached maturity at thirteen years of age and did not fast, so we fall into a problem. And for such a person, it is said that it is obligatory for her to make up the two years she did not fast, except if she was in a remote place far from knowledge and the people of knowledge, and it never occurred to her at all that fasting was obligatory upon her. Such a person may be excused by ignorance, and it is not obligatory for her to make up the fasts. Now, al-bulugh and its opposite are youth. Third: Islam, intellect, and al-bulugh.