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

Even foreigners used the services of ‘udūl to notarize their commercial transactions. The
Englishman George Broome, for instance, had ‘udūl notarize a document attesting to his
ownership of a female mule, green in color, 25 in partnership with Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Māsī
al-Ḥarātī. 26 Broome took care to write a summary in English of the document in question on the
back of a number of legal documents notarized by ‘udūl, probably since he was unable to read
Arabic. 27 This practice mirrors that of Moroccan Jews who wrote summaries in Judeo-Arabic or
Haketia (Moroccan Judeo-Spanish) on the back of their Islamic legal documents in order to
remind them of their contents. 28
Many documents notarized by ‘udūl were also registered in the consulate of the foreign
subject or protégé concerned or counter-signed by his consul. As early as 1849, the prominent
Muslim merchant Muḥammad al-Razīnī owed debts to a number of Christian merchants which
were attested in legal documents signed by both ‘udūl and the relevant consuls. 29 Later this sort
of practice became more common; one finds many copies of Islamic legal documents in the
chancellery records of foreign consulates, often with summaries or translations in the relevant
European language. 30 Undoubtedly these were recorded in consular chancelleries at the request
25
A number of legal documents describe animals (especially donkeys and mules) as green; see the discussion of
sales in Chapter Two.
26
PD, 15 Ramaḍān 1303. This document includes an interesting variation on the protection clause discussed in
Chapter Two, specifying that “[Broome] accepts the jurisdiction of the sharī‘a if he becomes weak or destitute [that
is, unable to uphold his end of the partnership] (ba‘d an raḍiya al-tājiru al-madhkūru dhimmata al-‘āmili wa-
ḥukmata al-shar‘i idhā ḥaṣala ḍa‘fun aw ‘adamun lahu).” For other examples of (Christian) foreigners who used
the services of ‘udūl to notarize their legal transactions, see, e.g., FO 635/4, p. 51a, 10 February 1875; MAE Nantes,
Tanger A 160, Dossier Canepa, 1896; PD, 15 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1287 and 27 Sha‘bān 1320.
27
PD, 6 Muḥarram 1301 and 12 Jumādā I 1304. The first document records that a Jew, al-ḥazān Yaḥya, Broome’s
legal agent, bought two cows from the Muslim ‘Abdallāh b. Muḥammad, and that another Jew, Shmuel b. Avraham
b. Ḥaim, guaranteed the sale for the buyer. On the back is written in English: “Purchase of 2 Bullocks, Nov. 6 th ,
1883. Old age.” The second document records a partnership between a Muslim named Aḥmad and Broome “the
Englishman.” On the back is written: “Feb 6 th 1887, 1 cow with Hamed $15.”
28
See the discussion in Chapter Two.
29
DAR, Tetuan, 20868, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān to ‘Abd al-Qādir Ash‘āsh, 3 Ramaḍān 1265.
30
See, e.g., FO, 631/7, p. 188a, 24 July 1912 (two copies of Arabic legal documents with no translations); USNA,
reg. 84, v. 16, p. 29ff, 28 Dhū al-Qa‘da 1327; see also reg. 84, v. 39, legal deed in Arabic from 30 April 1898
(concerning Ion Perdicaris) and throughout.
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