the third year, while al-Khandaq took place in the fifth year. So how is this hadith to be understood?

It may be explained in one of two ways:

The first is that he was fourteen at the beginning of his fourteenth year during Uhud, and fifteen at its end during al-Khandaq.

The second is to say that the phrase “he was fifteen years old” means that he had reached fifteen; it does not preclude his having exceeded that age. Just as we may say of a man who is sixteen years old, “He is fifteen years old,” meaning fifteen or older.

The second sign is the growth of coarse hair around the genitals—whether in a male or a female—that is, hair which is strong and thick, as distinct from fine, light hair. Such fine hair may appear even in a ten-year-old or younger. Coarse, strong, thick hair, however, is a sign of puberty. Thus, if his beard grows but his pubic hair has not appeared, he has not reached puberty. What counts is the growth of pubic hair. The evidence is the hadith of Atiyyah al-Qurazi: “They were brought before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on the day of Qurayzah; those who had grown pubic hair were killed, while those who had not were not” (1). This indicates that it is a sign of puberty.

His statement, “has grown,” apparently refers to hair growing without treatment. But if it were