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

Makhzan officials at times evoked the dhimma contract in a more general way when
discussing the rights to which Jews were entitled under Islamic rule. In 1828 Mawlāy ‘Abd al-
Raḥmān wrote to the governor of Tetuan, Muḥammad Ash‘āsh, about the responsibility of
respecting the religious rights of Jews. 34 Although the sultan did not use the term dhimma
specifically, he clearly invoked the principle of the dhimma contract as the basis for Jews’ status
in Morocco. Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān reminded Ash‘āsh that Jews should not be made to work
on their Sabbaths or on their holidays—neither by the Makhzan nor by anyone else—since these
were days on which their religion prohibited Jews from working. The sultan explained that the
Jews should not be subject to this violation of their religion precisely because “they pay the jizya
in exchange for [the right to] maintain their religion.” 35
Jews also made reference to the dhimma contract in discussing their relationship to the
sultan. In a legal document dated January 14, 1880 and signed by ‘udūl, most of the Jews of
Meknes testified that they were not foreign protégés. 36 (This excluded the five Jews who did
have foreign protection and who specified as much in the document.) These non-protégés
declared that “they have no protection except that of the sultan, may God make him victorious
(lā ḥimāyata lahum illā bi-mawlānā naṣarahu Allāh).” It is clear that the authors of the
document, and presumably the Jews who agreed to it, deliberately contrasted the protection of
foreign states with that of the sultan. They used a word normally reserved for consular
protection (ḥimāya) in order to invoke the protection of the sultan. The use of the term ḥimāya
34 DAR, Tetuan, 19457, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān to Muḥammad Ash‘āsh, 23 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1243.
35 Innamā yu‘ṭūna al-jizyata ‘alā al-baqā’i ‘alā dīnihim. For other instances in which the sultan clearly referred to
the Pact of ‘Umar in his instructions regarding the treatment of Jews without specifically mentioning the dhimma,
see DAR, Yahūd, 23218, ẓahīr from Mawlāy ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, 5 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1321. In this long letter addressed to
qā’ids, pashas, and other local officials, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-‘Azīz berated his representatives for failing to protect the
Jews’ quarters from being pillaged. He thus invoked the responsibility of the state to ensure the safety of its Jewish
subjects, one of the most important elements of the dhimma contract.
36 DAR, Meknes, 9738, 1 Ṣafar 1297.
237