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

appears numerous times). 29 While the Ministry of Complaints registers do not specify that they
were reserved for Moroccan subjects, the existence of a separate register for foreign subjects and
protégés suggests that the Ministry of Complaints was intended to serve those Moroccans
without protection. Secondly, the fact that Jews were explicitly identified as protégés in only a
few instances suggests that this was relatively rare in the cases with which the Ministry of
Complaints dealt. 30
After unpaid debts, theft was the second most common matter about which Jews wrote to
the Ministry of Complaints. Jews who were victims of theft tended to petition the Makhzan only
when they did not receive proper compensation through the normal channels. Compensation
usually meant some sort of indemnity (in cash) or the return of the stolen goods. Under normal
circumstances, the local Makhzan official was responsible for making sure that victims of theft
were properly compensated. It was only when individuals felt that justice had not been done at
the local level that they appealed to the central government.
The fact that punishment beyond financial compensation was not usually requested by
either the Jewish victims or the Makhzan is somewhat at odds with the way theft is understood in
Islamic law. According to Islamic law, theft cases can fall under the category of ḥudūd (singular
ḥadd), that is, crimes for which a mandatory punishment is outlined in the Quran or the Sunna. 31
The Quran prescribes cutting off of the right hand of a theif. However, as Rudolph Peters
observes, “The jurists define the ḥadd crime of theft very narrowly.” 32 Most cases of theft did
29
BH, K 551 (see the introduction to the register on p. 4). For mentions of Mas‘ūd Ibn al-Baḥar in this register, see:
p. 41, 19 Jumādā I 1307; p. 74, 15 Ramaḍān 1307; p. 79, 25 Ramaḍān 1307; p. 83, 4 Shawwāl 1307; p. 85, 11
Shawwāl 1307; p. 90, 10 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1307; p. 93, 28 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1307.
30
BH, K 171, p. 131, 2 Muḥarram, 1308; K 181, p. 201, 16 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1309; p. 315, 29 Jumādā I 1310.
31
On ḥadd crimes generally, see Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, 53-65. On sariqa (theft) as a ḥadd
crime, see Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law, 179-80: Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, 55-57.
32
Ibid., 56. Peters further notes that “A salient feature of the law of ḥadd crimes is that the doctrine has made it
very difficult to obtain a conviction,” (54). Among the requirements for considering theft a ḥadd crime are: the theft
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