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they were being mistreated by various Makhzan officials. 104 In particular, the muḥtasib was
confiscating their goods without justifying his actions through legal proof (mūjib)—either
Islamic legal proof (shar‘ī) or proof according to “natural” law (ṭib‘ī, the exact meaning of which
is unclear). 105 The petitioners objected to his actions, arguing that confiscating goods in the
absence of any legal proof was against Islamic law. 106
Jews appealed to the Makhzan when they felt that their local sharī‘a and Makzhan courts
were not functioning properly in part because these institutions were central to Jews’ lives.
These petitions show not only that Jews were able to appeal to the Makhzan when their access to
Islamic legal institutions was threatened, but also that non-Muslims were willing to weigh in on
the functioning of Islamic law.
Violations of Jewish Legal Authority
Jews not only protested when Islamic legal institutions malfunctioned, but also when
their own legal system was put at risk—usually by a Makhzan official who had overstepped his
jurisdiction or otherwise interfered in Jews’ self-government. As discussed in Chapters One and
Three, Islamic law guaranteed Jews the right to judge intra-Jewish affairs according to Jewish
law. Jews deprived of this privilege petitioned the Makhzan when they felt their rights to legal
autonomy were being threatened.
104
DAR, Yahūd, 19415, Jews of unspecified city to Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān, Dhū al-Ḥijja 1262.
105
Perhaps by “natural” proof the petitioners meant proof that complied with the demands of common sense, though
it is difficult to tell since this is not a term that occurs often in the Makhzan archives.
106
See also DAR, Yahūd, 23088, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān to Aḥmad al-Mu‘ṭī, 27 Rabī‘ I 1261. In 1845 Mawlāy
‘Abd al-Raḥmān responded to the complaint that the qā’id of Casablanca had forced the Jew Hārūn to give him 481
riyals without any legal proof (mūjib) that Harūn actually owed this money. The sultan ordered al-Mu‘ṭī, qā’id of
Casablanca, to assemble the ‘udūl and the ‘umanā’ and have them testify about the case, and to see that justice was
done. Although this complaint was submitted by an individual Jew (from Fez), I include it here since it concerns the
same sort of abuse about which Jews normally petitioned collectively.
258