the circumstances of a son after he reaches puberty during his father’s lifetime, according to the school’s position. They also include those of a virgin woman whose father is alive, or an orphan woman who has no testamentary guardian, once she marries and her husband consummates the marriage—with no fixed time limit and no distinction between the woman whose father is alive and the orphan woman, according to Ibn al-Qāsim’s report from Mālik. This differs from the views of those who set a time limit or distinguish between the two, as we shall explain, Allah willing.
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As for circumstances in which a person is treated as possessing sound financial judgment unless a lack of it becomes apparent, these include those of a virgin woman who has remained unmarried beyond the usual marriageable age, according to those who regard such prolonged maidenhood as legally significant, though the age defining it is disputed. They also include those of a woman whose husband has consummated the marriage and one, two, or seven years have elapsed since consummation, according to the differing limits set by those who specify a period; or those of a son whose father is alive after he reaches puberty, and a daughter whose father is alive after she reaches puberty, according to Ziyād’s report from Mālik.
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None of the disagreements among our scholars on this subject falls outside the fourfold classification we have set out. I shall mention what I can recall of these views as concisely as I can, Allah Most High willing.
A son remains under his father’s guardianship so long as he is a minor. None of his transactions is valid without his father’s permission, and neither a gift nor a charitable donation is valid even with his permission. Once he reaches puberty, his circumstances must fall into one of three categories:
First: he is known to possess sound financial judgment.
Second: he is known to lack sound financial judgment.
Third: his circumstances are unknown, and it is not known whether he possesses sound financial judgment or lacks it.
If he is known to possess sound financial judgment, his transactions are valid, and his father has no right to revoke any of them, even if he has not formally attested to his release from guardianship. He has already left it by reaching puberty together with the sound financial judgment he has demonstrated. But if