Girls; growth age and penal responsibility

Childrens, and especially girls, becoming mature enough to have penal responsibility is among the new problems into which enquiring jurisprudential investigations seems necessary because many children, especially girls, who have newly reached religious and sexual maturity age lack in the necessary intellectual growth for penal issues. The basic question is whether, from a jurisprudential viewpoint, such people are legally supported and are not responsible concerning penal issues such as civil affairs. The present paper, first, elaborates on the concept of "growth" and its relationship with madness and maturity and tries to prove that according to traditions growth is not merely limited to its civil conception and is generalizable to non-fiscal matters such as penal affairs. Then, the paper studies the foundations and proofs regarding the necessity of reaching maturity to have penal responsibility based on the Quran, traditions, and rational arguments, coming to the conclusion that the meanings of the words "roshd" [growth] and "ashadd" [severest] is relative, the claim being substantiated by proofs from the Quran and traditions. The rational proofs show that penal matters are much more crucial than fiscal matters, thus, growth is primarily a condition. To prove the claim, Primacy Analogy has been used, followed by an explanation of the conditions "kamal al-aghl" [perfect intellect] and "matooh" who do not have penal responsibility based on traditions. Therefore, reform in the age of penal responsibility is essential.