to their husbands, up to the words of Allah, “or the children who are still unaware of women’s private parts.” The scholars explain that “those who are still unaware of women’s private parts” are the boys who have no interest in women at all—women do not even cross their minds. Yet some children, the moment they turn ten, already look at women with desire. This varies, as I have mentioned: a boy who sits with people whose talk is mostly about women will have his sexual appetite awakened from the outset, whereas another who is raised among people concerned only with study, Quran memorization, and the like will not think about such matters and the instinct will not develop in him.

In any case, once it becomes clear that the child notices a woman’s nakedness, talks about women, and his glances resemble those of a person driven by desire, a woman must veil herself from him—even if he is only ten years old. Indeed, the scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—say that a boy who has completed ten years could father children; that is, by the age of (11) he might already have offspring. Therefore, do not be surprised if he fathers a child after marrying and consummating the marriage.

It is related that only eleven years separated ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ from his son ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Shāfiʿī—may Allah have mercy on him—said, “I once saw a grandmother who was twenty-one years old.” In our own time you may find a woman who reaches twenty-one and still has not married, whereas a girl may begin menstruating at nine. If, therefore, we suppose that she married at nine, that would mean