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official accused a Jew of falsifying documents and implied that doing so was a common practice
among Jews. 161 Moreover, in this case the official himself was the debtor in question, suggesting
that his anti-Jewish statement may have stemmed from personal vindictiveness. Additionally,
Makhzan officials also accused Muslims of making false claims, which suggests that officials did
not single out Jews for this charge. In a letter dated March 31, 1890, Aḥmad Amāna, a qā’id in
Marrakesh, wrote to the sultan about a Muslim named Shaykh Laḥsan who had sold a large
amount of olive oil to three Jews. 162 The sultan subsequently ordered the sales to be annulled;
Laḥsan was to return the money to the Jews, who in turn were to give the olive oil back to
Laḥsan. 163 Laḥsan then attempted to cheat the Jews out of a relatively large sum of money by
claiming that they had paid him less than what was recorded in the bills of sale, which were
examined by a qāḍī. 164 Although some Makhzan officials may have questioned Jews’ claims out
of a general mistrust of Jews, the fact that officials also charged Muslims like Laḥsan with
falsifying their claims indicates that their skepticism did not always arise from anti-Jewish
sentiment.
161
BH, K 181, p. 151, 10 Ramaḍān 1309. The official wrote that “it is not hidden that all the documents of the Jews
are doubled (muḍa‘‘af).”
162
DAR, Marrakesh, Aḥmad Amālik to Mawlāy Ḥasan, 9 Sha‘bān 1307. For a similar accusation against a Muslim,
see BH, K 157, p. 37, 28 Ramaḍān 1306.
163
The sultan ordered the transaction canceled because Laḥsan had been imprisoned and forced to pay 1,500 riyāls
to the Makhzan unjustly. Laḥsan had originally sold the olive oil in order to raise this amount, but after he
complained the sultan rescinded the payment and ordered the umanā’ in Marrakesh to return to the money to Laḥsan
so that he could give it back to the Jews. See also DAR, Marrakesh, Mawlāy Ḥasan to Umanā’ of Marrakesh, 20
Dhū al-Qa‘da 1307, in which the sultan instructed the umanā’ to return the money Laḥsan had paid them so that he
could repay the Jews.
164
In the sale to Ḥaim Corcos, Laḥsan claimed that he had received 300 riyāls while the document recorded the sale
at 450 riyāls. Laḥsan claimed he received 1,200 riyāls from Dawūd b. al-‘Akarī, while the amount recorded was
4,515 riyāls. Finally, Laḥsan claimed that he had not sold any olive oil to Shmūyil b. al-Ṭanjī, while the document
recorded a sale of 525 riyāls. It seems then that Laḥsan attempted to cheat the Jews out of 3,990 riyāls.
221