Dr. Shabir Ally says there is no clear answer. What is very clear is that fasting is an obligation on adult Muslims. At what age does a child become an adult? This is not specified in the Quran. A hadith says that when children are ten years old, they should be required to pray. But this doesn't necessarily mean that children should fast then, since fasting is a lot more difficult than praying. In ancient times, it was thought that adulthood would be when people were ready for marriage, e.g. when a girl had her first menstrual period. But Dr. Shabir says there's also a difference between physical biological development and mental and emotional development. He cautions that we should not have our children fast too early if medical experts advise against that, because we're not dealing with an obligation from God. Parents can gradually introduce the children to fasting according to their age and their capacity so that by the time they reach a level of development, both physically and intellectually, they can choose for themselves to fast as an obligation that they know is placed by God on adult Muslims. As for children who want to fast and can physically withstand the rigors of fasting, we shouldn't stand in their way, but we should give them every bit of encouragement.
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