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

he tried to claim his erstwhile property, but the house’s current owner claimed that he had bought
it years ago (presumably from Ṣabbāgh’s agent). Ṣabbāgh denied ever having received any
money for the house, arguing that it therefore remained his property. Ṣabbāgh died without
having resolved his claim, and after his death his heirs took up the case.
Ṣabbāgh’s heirs added a new twist to the case, arguing that the legal document in which
Ṣabbāgh had appointed his agent was invalid because it was drawn up in a Jewish court. They
claimed that since both Ṣabbāgh and his Jewish agent were subjects of the Moroccan sultan at
the time, the deed should have been drawn up in a sharī‘a court. The Jewish petitioners pointed
out that the heirs’ reasoning explicitly contradicted the sultan’s orders on such matters, namely,
that intra-Jewish legal affairs should be adjudicated in a Jewish court. Nor did this argument
follow the Islamic legal principle that intra-Jewish civil matters—such as a document
designating a legal agent—should be dealt with by Jewish courts. In fact, the logic of the heirs’
claim reflected the view that legal status was based on nationality rather than religion; since
Ṣabbāgh and his agent were Moroccan nationals, they should have drawn up their contract in a
Moroccan—that is, Islamic—court, regardless of their Jewish faith. The introduction of
nationality to law in Morocco is something I discuss in detail in subsequent chapters; suffice it to
say that for the purposes of this case, nationality was legally irrelevant and Ṣabbāgh’s heirs were
clearly flouting the law of the land. They nonetheless brought the case to the local Makhzan
court, no doubt hoping that their argument might find favor with the presiding khalīfa. The
Jewish petitioners requested that Torres (or the sultan himself) return the case to Fez’s Jewish
court, the only legal institution with jurisdiction over such matters according to the sultan’s
command.
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