- Those whose every act is presumed to be an instance of profligacy and therefore invalid until their prudence becomes evident;
- The converse: those whose every act is presumed prudent and therefore valid until their profligacy becomes manifest.
As for the person who is legally deemed profligate—even when signs of prudence appear—he is: the minor who has not yet reached puberty; the virgin girl under her father’s authority; and the ward of a testamentary guardian so long as she has not remained unmarried into advanced age, according to those jurists who take such “late age” into account. The precise age that constitutes “late age” is the subject of wide disagreement, with opinions ranging from under thirty to sixty.
The person accorded the ruling of prudence—even though his profligacy is known—includes: the spendthrift adult over whom no guardianship has been established by either his father or the ruler, according to the well-known Mālikī position (in opposition to Ibn al-Qāsim, who looks to actual prudence rather than the presence or absence of guardianship); and the orphaned virgin who has been left unattended, according to the view of Sahnūn.
The individual judged profligate on the ground that his prudence has not yet become apparent is, for example, the son who comes of age while his father is still alive, according to the prevalent opinion in the school; likewise the virgin girl under her father’s authority who has no testamentary guardian and whose marriage has been consummated, so long as her prudence has not been confirmed and she has not reached the age deemed sufficient by those who consider age decisive; and the orphan girl without a guardian, in the opinion of those who hold that all her transactions are to be rejected.
As for the situation in which the presumption is prudence until profligacy becomes clear, it includes: the late-age virgin, according to those who recognize late age; the virgin whose marriage has been consummated and for whom the stipulated period of years has elapsed, according to those who require that period; the son who attains majority while his father is alive and whose condition is unknown, according to one of the two reported views; and the virgin daughter after puberty, according to the opinion that does not require consummation of her marriage.
These, then, are the principal points covered in this book; the subsidiary questions are many.