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

did not declare that Jews and Muslims were equal, but rather that they must be treated equally
before the law. Still, there is no question that this was a new language with which to express the
relationship among Jews and Muslims, and that it indicated a response on the part of the
Makhzan to European pressure—even if this new language of equality did not necessarily
contradict the traditional understanding of Jews’ rights in Islamic society.
At first, expressions of the Makhzan’s commitment to the equal treatment of Jews and
Muslims came in the context of letters to foreign officials. One of the earliest such expressions
is from an 1837 letter in which Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān wrote to Méchain, the French
ambassador. 125 The sultan’s letter concerned a trial in which a Jewish subject of the sultan was
suing a French merchant for 2,000 piastres. The sultan explained that “people are equal before
us: as for the justice that one is required to provide, there is no difference between [people of
different religions], whether Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, because it is a duty to provide justice
in all religions.” 126 In other letters to foreign officials, the Makhzan similarly emphasized its
commitment to justice for all subjects regardless of religion. After Montefiore’s visit to
Marrakesh, the grand vizier, al-Ṭayyib al-Yamānī, wrote to assure him that “God the Most High
forbids injustice towards people professing our religion, and He likewise forbids injustice toward
people professing any other religion.” 127 During the Ntifa affair, Bargāsh asked Mawlāy Ḥasan
125
MAE Nantes, Tanger A 138, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-Raḥmān to Méchain, 5 December 1837 (in the dossier “Affaire
Mayer, Amarti et troi juifs contre Garcin”).
126
“…les hommes sont égaux devant nous; ce que pour la justice qu’il y a à leur rendre, il n’y a entr’eux aucune
différence soit pour un musulman, soit pour un chrétien, ou pour un juif, car dans toutes les réligions c’est un devoir
de rendre la justice” (ibid.). This assertion came in the context of the sultan’s justification of sending the case to the
French consulate to be tried; he explained that, “si l’eussions décidé par un jugement vous auriez cru que nous
eussions protégé le juif pour qu’il était un de nos sujets…” Although such cases would normally have fallen under
the Makhzan’s jurisdiction, in this instance the sultan referred the case to the French consul.
127
See, e.g., al-Ṭayyib al-Yamānī to Moses Montefiore, August 1864 (quoted in L. Loewe, Diaries of Sir and Lady
Montefiore, 2 vols. (Chicago: Bedrod-Clarke, 1890), v. 2, 161).
363