IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...
IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ... IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...
© Copyright by Jessica Maya Marglin, 2013. All rights reserved.
Abstract This dissertation examines the participation of Jews in Morocco’s legal system during the long nineteenth century (up to 1912). It constitutes the first study of Jews’ legal strategies in pre- colonial Morocco based on archival evidence. I examine three sets of non-Jewish legal orders which Jews frequented. Part One draws on court records from sharī‘a (Islamic law) courts in order to understand when and why Jews made use of these institutions and how they were treated there. Part Two uses the archives of the Makhzan (the Moroccan central government) to discuss how Jews appealed to the state when they felt they had been denied justice at the local level. Part Three draws on consular archives to trace the ways in which Jews with foreign protection made use of consular courts. Throughout the dissertation, I make comparisons with the medieval and early modern periods in order to situate this study in the longue durée of Jews’ experience in the Islamic Mediterranean. My analysis of Jews’ place in the Moroccan legal system contributes to Jewish and Islamic historiography in three ways. First, I propose an approach to the socio-legal history of the Islamic Mediterranean which emphasizes the perspective of legal actors and the interactions among various legal orders—two aspects of law in action which have hitherto largely been ignored. Second, I offer an alternative to dominant narratives of the history of Jews in the Islamic world. Rather than argue that Jews either benefited from the tolerance of Islamic societies or suffered from the discriminatory nature of Islamic rule, I focus instead on understanding the quotidian interactions among Jews, Muslims, and the various non-Jewish legal institutions which Jews frequented. Third, I suggest a different way of discussing the question of Jewish legal autonomy in the Islamic world. Previous scholarship has argued either that Jews iii
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- Page 7 and 8: throughout the process was vital to
- Page 9 and 10: and Arielle Rubenstein, Stephanie S
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- Page 19 and 20: of these institutions remain opaque
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- Page 25 and 26: many of those who espouse the neo-l
- Page 27 and 28: In recent years, the neo-lachrymose
- Page 29 and 30: alternative framework to that of au
- Page 31 and 32: including courts—which were of pr
- Page 33 and 34: Recently scholars working on the me
- Page 35 and 36: We are left with two models of Jewi
- Page 37 and 38: Legal pluralism is an approach to u
- Page 39 and 40: orders. I also turn the focus from
- Page 41 and 42: Nonetheless, the tendency of forum
- Page 43 and 44: Legal pluralism does not explain wh
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- Page 47 and 48: is perhaps best attested by the fac
- Page 49 and 50: To help remind readers that the thr
- Page 51 and 52: abusive Makhzan officials, infringe
© Copyright by Jessica Maya Marglin, 2013. All rights reserved.
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