from the child until he reaches puberty, and from the sleeper until he awakes.”

This ḥadith has been related by the compilers of the Sunan from the narrations of ʿAlī and ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with them both), and all qualified scholars have unanimously accepted it.

Yet the discerning child’s acts of worship are valid and he is rewarded for them, according to the majority of jurists.

As for the insane person from whom the pen has been lifted, not a single act of worship performed by him is valid by consensus of the scholars: neither faith nor disbelief, neither prayer nor any other form of devotion. In fact, in the view of ordinary rational people he is unfit for worldly affairs such as trade and craftsmanship; he cannot properly serve as a cloth-seller, perfumer, blacksmith, or carpenter. His contracts are invalid by unanimous agreement—his sale and purchase, marriage and divorce, acknowledgement and testimony, and every other statement he makes are all legally void. No religious ruling, reward, or punishment is attached to his words.

The discerning minor, by contrast, has statements that carry legal weight in certain contexts by explicit textual proof and consensus, and in other contexts there is a difference of opinion.

[No sainthood for one who neglects the obligatory duties]

Since the insane person is incapable of valid faith, piety, or drawing near to Allah through obligatory or supererogatory acts, it is impossible for him to be one of Allah’s friends,