Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam: Perspectives of Med ...

not yet be sexually mature. The best method of reconciling the various opinions is to use the general rule under normal circumstances—because intellectual maturity and puberty are often concomitant—and to use the second group of opinions for exceptional cases. The age of fifteen may also be taken as the general age for the start of taklf.

Muslim jurists have traditionally recognised the development of irda in children based the well-known Hadith, ‘Order your children to pray when they reach the age of seven, beat them [lightly if they refuse] when they reach ten and separate their beds [i.e., separation between boys and girls]’.⁸⁴ Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that when a child reaches the age of ten, his ability, intelligence, and responsibility pertaining to acts of worship increase. His ability to distinguish between right and wrong also strengthens. Ibn al-Qayyim supported the view that faith and prayer is obligated upon the child of ten; a ten-year-old is usually able to understand the various branches of knowledge and must therefore learn about God and His Messenger.⁸⁵ The Qur'an mentioned that it was revealed in order to warn those whom it reaches (balagha). According to Ibn al-Qayyim, if the child of ten is rational, this entails that the Qur'an reaches his intellect and he joins the company of those who are warned.⁸⁶

Because reason and irda are connected, the first traces of irda in children would appear around the age of seven, when they reach the age of tamyz (discernment). This view is supported by the jurists of Islam. For instance, Ibn Qudma (d. 620/1223) mentioned in Al-Mughn that if the parents of a seven-year-old fall into dispute, the child must choose between the two parents; whoever he chooses is most deserving of custody.⁸⁷

Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned, however, that the age of seven is not a specific age for tamyz; some children attain it earlier.⁸⁸ The same analogy may also be applied to the age of ten. This implies that, under general circumstances, a child will attain tamyz by the age of seven and reach the next developmental stage by the age of ten.

The narration of ‘Al stipulated that formal ta'db should only begin at the age of seven. For instance, al-‘Abdar, in his Madkhal, criticised parents who sent their children to school before the age of seven, arguing