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The Makhzan similarly referred to the dhimma pact in addressing the complaints of Jews.
In one letter from 1892, the minister of foreign affairs, Muḥammad Gharrīṭ, addressed the Jews
of Marrakesh, who had complained about their qā’id’s treatment of them. Gharrīt noted that the
sultan was displeased to hear that his appointed official was mistreating Jews, since the Jews are
under his protection (ahl dhimmatihi) and among his subjects (wa-min ra‘īyatihi). 29 In another
letter from 1892, Mawlāy Ḥasan affirmed that Jews have certain rights as dhimmīs—in this case,
the right to appeal to Islamic legal authorities. The sultan reiterated that these rights were tied to
the Jews’ obligation to fulfill their part of the dhimma contract:
[They have the aforementioned rights on condition that they fulfill] the obligations they
had from before, which are conditions of their dhimma [status] and the treaties [we have
with them] (ma‘a luzūmihim mā kānū ‘alayhi qadīman alladhī huwa sharṭun fī
dhimmatihim wa-mu‘āhadatihim)—namely, not raising their voices, or screaming a lot,
or spitting, or wearing shoes in places where they are not allowed to wear them, [as well
as] paying the debts they owe ... and paying their taxes. 30
The stipulation that Jews must pay “their taxes” probably refers to the jizya, an obligation
mentioned in the Quran. 31 The agreement not to raise their voices echoes a provision in the Pact
of ‘Umar in which dhimmīs consent not to “raise our voices…when in the presence of
Muslims.” 32 Islamic law did not ubiquitously require non-Muslims to go barefoot in certain
places but this provision was often customary in Morocco. 33 (I have not found any precedent for
a prohibition on spitting.) Not only did Mawlāy Ḥasan clearly spell out the provisions for Jews’
legal rights, he specifically linked these rights to their observance of the dhimma contract.
29
DAR, Yahūd, 18152, Muḥammad Mufaḍḍal Gharrīṭ to Jews of Marrakesh, 7 Jumādā II 1310. See also DAR,
Yahūd, 15118, Mawlāy Ḥasan to Muḥammad Bargāsh, 22 Jumādā II 1297.
30
DAR, Fez, al-‘Arabī wuld Abī Muḥammad to Mawlāy Ḥasan, 4 Sha‘bān 1301. Although al-‘Arabī was actually
the author, it is clear from the context that in this section he was simply repeating what Mawlāy Ḥasan wrote to him
in an earlier letter—thus it is safe to assume that these words were in fact those of the sultan.
31
Quran 9:29. It is also possible that this clause is more general, meaning that Jews were required to pay all the
taxes they owed—including the jizya.
32
This quotation is taken from the widely used text found in al-Ṭurṭūshī, Sirāj al-Mulūk, translated in Stillman, The
Jews of Arab Lands, 157-58.
33
For a nuanced account of how this restriction was actually applied, see Gottreich, The Mellah of Marrakesh, 94-6.
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