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

The Jewish creditor, however, requested payment again. When the debtor refused, the creditor
used forgery in order to support his claim to further payment. 141
One particularly detailed case demonstrates the kind of competing claims made by
Makhzan officials and Jewish petitioners. The case concerns a Jewish woman’s complaint that
her son Ibrāhīm was killed by two men under the jurisdiction of an official named al-Sha‘shū‘ī:
[Al-Sha‘shū‘ī responded] that the two suspects are not from his region, rather they are a
man and a boy… who were accompanying [Ibrāhīm], and when they arrived at the river
the dhimmī drowned while they were safe. They left the dhimmī’s donkey and what he
had with him [that is, they did not steal his possessions]. When al-Sayyid ‘Abd al-Wārith
al-Wazzānī [another official] saw [the suspects] from where he was, facing the river, he
commanded that they be brought back and sent to the sultan out of fear that the dhimmīs
would wrongly bring a claim against him. 142 Then the son of the [deceased] dhimmī took
what he left (matrūkahu), through the aforementioned al-Wazzānī, and released them [i.e.
the suspects from any further claims] (wa-waqa‘a al-ibrā’)….
[Written below the entry in pencil:] He presented this to [Ibrāhīm’s mother] and she
denied the claim that there was a release… as is in a proof (ḥujja) in her possession, and
if you have proof [then send it], and if not then settle. 143
According to Ibrāhīm’s mother, her son had been murdered and she deserved compensation. But
al-Sha‘shū‘ī reported that Ibrāhīm had died an accidental death. In fact, al-Sha‘shū‘ī’s associate
al-Wazzānī was so concerned that “the dhimmīs” would bring a claim for the blood money
despite the absence of a crime that he made sure to capture the two men who had last seen
Ibrāhīm. This in itself is an interesting commentary on the effectiveness of Jews’ petitions to the
Makhzan, suggesting that they were successful enough of the time to make local officials wary
of getting into a situation in which Jews might bring a claim against them. Although it is
difficult to know with certainty how Ibrāhīm died and whether his mother deserved the blood
money, it is clear that al- Sha‘shū‘ī believed the matter had already been resolved.
141
For another case in which it seems the Jewish creditor intentionally lied about having settled the debt, see BH, K
181, p. 260, 23 Ṣafar 1310. Here the Makhzan official wrote that the Jewish creditor did not mention the settlement
of the case in his letter of complaint to the sultan. For a similar case concerning theft, see BH, K 181, p. 209, 24
Dhū al-Qa‘da 1309.
142
Khīfatan an yad‘ū ahlu al-dhimmati ‘alayhi bi-’l-bāṭili.
143
BH, K 181, p. 57, 20 Rabī‘ II 1309.
217