Najafi Q&A: Obligation conditions

Answer

In the name of Allah, the divine duties, including prayer, are obligatory if the signs of the obligation are met. For males, the sign is either the completion of fifteen lunar years, the appearance of coarse hair, not the fine hair, on the pubic area or the occurrence of a wet dream, i.e. emission of semen while dreaming. Any one of these signs is sufficient for puberty. For females, the sign is either the completion of nine lunar years, the appearance of coarse hair on the pubic area, the occurrence of a wet dream, or the start of the menstruation. If any of these signs are found in males or females, it is said to have reached to puberty i.e. the person became mature enough to do the religious obligations. Allah knows best.

Answer

In the name of Allah, be informed my son that the female and male children are trained to commit to prayers when they start distinguishing and recognizing prayers and their conditions. As for the obligation of prayer, it becomes obligatory to the male child after completing fifteen lunar years of age, or the growth of coarse hair on the pubic hair, or a wet dream. If any of these two things happened before fifteen years, it is proven that prayer is obligatory. As for the girl, if she completes nine lunar years, it is obligatory for her to pray, or to have a wet dream before that, or to menstruate, or to grow hair on the pubic area. It should be known that what is meant by hair in the two case mentioned above - both male and female – it is not the fluff that is found on the body and does not grow in excess. Rather, what is meant is the hair by the color of the head hair in such a way that it does not remain in the form of fluff. Allah knows best.