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Chapter Six: Collective Appeals to the Makhzan
According to [the Jews of Marrakesh], there is only one way to end their suffering; this is to
make the state of affairs known to His Majesty [the sultan] and to address their complaints to
him. 1
On April 10, 1877, the Jews of Casablanca wrote a letter complaining about the “foul
day” on which their qā’id ‘Abdallāh al-Ḥaṣār denied them justice. 2 The Jews of Casablanca
described an incident in which “two Jewish women got into a fight in the millāḥ (the Jewish
quarter).” The fight spread, first to the women’s husbands as “each woman’s husband came to
help his wife.” More Jews joined in, “each trying to restrain his friend” from escalating the fight
further. 3 Although the Jews seemed to have things under control, “many of the qā’id’s personal
guards came and began attacking the Jews without regard to those who were fighting ... and
some Jews were injured.” Finally a number of Muslim bystanders joined in the brawl. When a
group of Jews went to ‘Abdallāh’s residence to complain about their ill treatment, he not only
refused to hear their plea but imprisoned some of them and put them in chains. A subsequent
group of Jews who appealed to ‘Abdallāh were equally unsuccessful; when they asked him to
“judge the matter justly” (taḥkumu fīhī bi-’l-ḥaqq), he replied that they would have to pay him to
do so. The Jews of Casablanca finally decided to appeal to the sultan for justice; Mawlāy Ḥasan
ordered ‘Abdallāh to send the imprisoned Jews to him for judgment. 4 Unfortunately we do not
know what happened to ‘Abdallāh or his Jewish prisoners. But the very fact that the Jews of
1
Joseph Halévy, Bulletin de l’Alliance Israélite Universelle, 2ème sémestre 1877.
2
DAR, Yahūd, 15587, Jews of Casablanca to Jews of Tangier, 26 Rabī‘ I 1294. (The Jews of Casablanca originally
wrote to the Jews of Tangier, who then passed their letter on to a high-ranking vizier: on the choice of writing to
fellow Jews, see below.)
3
Yaruddu kullu wāḥidin ‘an ṣāḥibihi.
4
DAR, Yahūd, 34155, Ḥājj ‘Abdallāh al-Ḥaṣār to Muḥammad Bargāsh, 16 Jumādā I 1294. Al-Ḥaṣār claimed that
he had subsequently received orders from a vizier (he did not specify which one) to keep the prisoners in jail, and
asked Bargāsh for clarification.
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