he was not permitted—not because he had not reached puberty, nor because he had reached it, but because he was not fit for combat, whether due to physical weakness or some other reason. However, the narration of al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hibban indicates that he was not permitted because he had not reached puberty, and that he was permitted upon reaching puberty.

Nafiʿ said: “I came to Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz when he was Caliph and related this hadith to him. He said, ‘This is the threshold of puberty,’ and he wrote to his governors accordingly” (1).

Accordingly, we say: when a person completes fifteen years, he has reached puberty, even if he is physically small, has not experienced a wet dream, and has not grown pubic hair. Thus, a person may be legally accountable at the end of the day while not legally accountable at its beginning. If he was born at noon and completes fifteen years at noon, he has reached puberty.

If someone asks, “How can puberty occur from one minute to the next?” we reply: there must be a defined threshold if puberty is determined by years. Even if we were to set it at eighteen years, he would reach puberty at the end of the day while not having reached it at the beginning. The same applies to ejaculation: if he experiences a wet dream at midday, he is prepubescent at the beginning of the day and pubescent at its end. There must therefore be a defined threshold.

The hadith of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, presents a difficulty, for it states: “He was presented to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, during the campaign of Uhud when he was fourteen years old, and was presented to him on the day of al-Khandaq when he was fifteen years old” (2). The difference is one year, and it is well known that Uhud took place in the year