Back to search

Why did the Hanafis and Shafi'is not consider the growth of pubic hair a sign of puberty, despite the existence of an incident in Islamic heritage that confirms it? And which precedes the other as a sign of puberty: nocturnal emission or the reliable growth of pubic hair?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Shafi'is do not consider the growth of pubic hair a sign of puberty for a Muslim child, due to the possibility of it being hastened to escape guardianship, and they cite the hadith of Atiyyah al-Qurazi concerning the disbeliever. As for the Hanafis, they do not consider it a sign of puberty because it varies between regions, and they interpreted the hadith to mean that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, knew through revelation that the growth of hair among Banu Qurayzah occurred at puberty, or that he intended to implement Sa'd's judgment upon them. The growth of pubic hair usually accompanies puberty, but it may precede or follow other signs such as wet dreams.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy