First: Ziyād’s report from Mālik that she leaves her father’s guardianship when she begins menstruating. In my view, this means when her sound financial judgment is known or her condition is unknown. If, however, she is known to lack sound financial judgment, she remains under his guardianship.

Second: Mālik’s statement in al-Muwatta’ and al-Mudawwana, also reported from him by Mutarrif in al-Wādiha, that she remains under her father’s guardianship until she marries, her husband consummates the marriage, and her condition becomes known—that is, upright witnesses attest that she manages her affairs soundly. According to this statement of Mālik, until she marries and her husband consummates the marriage, she remains under her father’s guardianship and her transactions are to be set aside, even if her sound financial judgment is known. Once her husband consummates the marriage, she is presumed to lack sound financial judgment, remains under her father’s guardianship, and her transactions are to be set aside unless her sound financial judgment becomes apparent. If her sound financial judgment is known and her good management becomes apparent, her transactions are valid and she leaves her father’s guardianship, even if this occurs shortly after consummation. However, in Mutarrif’s report from him, Mālik recommended delaying this for a year or so, as a recommendation rather than an obligation.

Third: She remains under her father’s guardianship until she reaches the age of spinsterhood, or her husband consummates the marriage and her condition becomes known. According to this report, after reaching the age of spinsterhood she is presumed to possess sound financial judgment and her transactions are valid, unless she is known to lack such judgment. Before that age, her transactions are to be set aside even if her sound financial judgment is known.

If she marries, her husband must consummate the marriage either before or after she reaches the age of spinsterhood. If he consummates it before that age, then from consummation until she reaches that age she is presumed to lack sound financial judgment, unless her sound judgment becomes evident. After reaching that age, she is presumed to possess sound financial judgment unless her lack of it becomes evident. If he consummates the marriage after she has reached the age of spinsterhood, consummation does not affect the legal status she has already acquired by reaching that age: she remains presumed to possess sound financial judgment unless her lack of it becomes evident.

There is disagreement over the age of spinsterhood applicable here: some say forty years, while others say between fifty and sixty. It is reported from Mālik that her gifts, charitable donations, grants, and acts of manumission are valid after she reaches the age of spinsterhood, provided her father approves them. This means that, where her condition is unknown, her father states that she exercises sound judgment in her affairs. For if she is known to lack sound financial judgment, her father may not approve her grants; and if she is known to possess sound financial judgment, her father may not disallow her grants. Thus, according to this