IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...

in the millāḥ of Marrakesh on April 25, 1904. 79 Muḥammad bought the rooms and their ḥazaqot
from the Jew Yitzḥaq b. Mas‘ūd Paṭlon and immediately rented all three to Yeshu‘a Corcos
(attested in a document notarized by sofrim). Clearly, Muḥammad had bought both the rooms
and their ḥazaqot as an investment. 80
Even Muslims who were not buying or selling the ḥazaqah on properties in the Jewish
quarters were certainly aware of their existence. For instance, a Muslim (whose name is
illegible) in commercial relations with Yeshu‘a Corcos wrote him a letter concerning a house
that he owned in the millāḥ of Marrakesh. 81 This Muslim landlord wanted Yeshu‘a to find
someone to rent the house for him, but he did not want anyone to claim the ḥazaqah on the
property. As he explained to Yeshu‘a: “If you find that [the representative of Ibn Sūsān—
presumably a rival] claims the ḥazaqah on [the property] and you are totally unable to prevent
him from doing so, then inform us [about it] so that we know what to do.” 82 We do not know
why this Muslim did not simply buy the ḥazaqah outright, or who its rightful owner was. Yet we
do know that this Muslim was aware of the existence of a ḥazaqah on the property and wanted to
make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands. 83
79
Yale, 10 Iyar 5664. See also a copy of this document in UL, Or.26.544.
80
Additionally, it seems that Yeshu‘a rented the rooms as an investment, since less than a month later he sublet
them to Yaḥya b. Eliyahu al-Zara‘ (although the contract of sub-lease seems to indicate that Yaḥya was paying the
same amount of rent that Yeshu‘a paid, which makes it unclear how Yeshu‘a profited from the investment): see the
document immediately below the original lease dated 4 Sivan 5664. In the end, however, it seems that
Muḥammad’s purchase was controversial; ten days later the previous owner of the rooms, Yaḥya b. Eliyahu al-
Zara‘, testified that he had sold the ḥazaqot on the properties to Yitzḥaq, who had sold them to Muḥammad, and that
Muḥammad was indeed the owner of the ḥazaqot—implying that his ownership had been questioned (Yale, 20 Iyar
5664; in the UL collection, this document is copied on the same page as the other two documents).
81
UL, Or.26.543 (2), ?? to Corcos, 15 Rabī‘ I 1320.
82
Fa-in ‘alimta annahu yaṭlubu al-ḥazāqata fīhā wa-lam tajid li-man‘ihi minhā bi-shay’in fa-a‘limnā li-na‘rifa mā
naf‘alu.
83
See also David Cazès, Essai sur l’histoire des Israélites de Tunis ; depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à
l’établissement du protectorat de la France en Tunisie (Paris: A. Durlacher, 1888), 112. Cazès wrote: “La plus
extraordinaire dans cette combinaison est que les musulmans propriétaires finirent par reconnaitre le droit de
Hazzaka et par s’y conformer.”
141