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

Chapter Eight: Jews, Muslims, and Foreigners in Consular Courts 1
Shalom Assarraf acquired a patent of protection from the United States in 1871. His
status as a protégé afforded a number of advantages; exemption from taxation, the intervention
of the American consular authorities on his behalf, and—theoretically, at least—the jurisdiction
of the American consular court for all cases in which Shalom was the defendant. Yet the
Assarraf collection preserves seven separate lawsuits in which Shalom was sued in the sharī‘a
court of Fez while under American protection.
On January 31, 1880, the Muslim woman Zaynab bint Mulūk al-Qamrī sued Shalom as
part of their ongoing legal dispute involving unpaid debts. 2 Zaynab claimed that Shalom had
taken two silver bracelets from her as security to ensure that her husband, who had guaranteed
the debt, showed up in court. Shalom at first denied being in possession of the bracelets, but
three weeks later—after Zaynab formally requested that he take an oath to this effect—Shalom
acknowledged that he had acquired the two bracelets as security. 3 He eventually returned the
bracelets to Zaynab, and she had ‘udūl draw up a formal writ of release to that effect. 4
Four years later, on June 29, 1884, a Muslim named al-Ṭayyib b. Aḥmad al-Jāmi‘ī sued
Shalom on behalf of Aḥmad b. Qudūr al-Qamrī. 5 Al-Ṭayyib claimed that Shalom had taken a
red, female mule which belonged to Aḥmad, and that Aḥmad wanted the mule back. Shalom
seemed not to have remembered the incident and in court the next day he asked al-Ṭayyib to
1
Parts of this chapter are published in Jessica Marglin, “La modernité juridique au Maroc ; protégés juifs, tribunaux
consulaires, et droit islamique,” in La bienvenue et l’adieu ; Migrant juifs et musulmans au Maghreb (XVe-XXe
siècle), 3 vols., Frédéric Abécassis, Karima Dirèche, and Rita Aouad, eds. (Paris and Casablanca: Séguier, 2012), v.
1, pp. 167-189.
2
TC, File #1, 18 Ṣafar 1297. On the ongoing dispute, see Chapter One.
3
See the entry below the maqāl dated 10 Rabī‘ I 1297.
4
TC, File #4, 19 Shawwāl 1298.
5
TC, File #8, 5 Ramaḍān 1301.
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