A Short Study over Bringing a Lawsuit at Maturity: an Islamic Perspective

Maturity is defined as reaching to a quality in age in which a person goes through some physical, mental and emotional changes. From an Islamic point of view, sheer reaching the state of adolescence, with the exception of marriage and divorce, does not bring man financial rights, nor personal capacity and competency standards for transactions and possession of properties. In this way, his adulthood is not even enough to be allowed to file a lawsuit. Indeed it is necessary to develop at a state of maturity. Maturity is an equivalent for the Persian word Rashid derived from roshd which implies guidance. It indicates a person who is rationally able to manage his properties.

To clarify the above mentioned concept, this study deals with the following question: What does make it necessary for us, in the case of filing a lawsuit, to consider adulthood with maturity?

There are several religious narratives on this matter which somehow help us to provide an answer to the question. One among the reasons is that an adult in this age may not be fully able to recognize his goods, therefore the irrationality of the decision does not bring any benefit but may cause him some harm or loss. The purpose of this Islamic rule is to avoid the damages that may happen through filing of a lawsuit by an immature adult. This study is directed towards the discovery of the roots of the above mentioned rule in religious narratives.