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

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comparisons between the frequency of Jews’ use of Islamic courts in the Ottoman Empire versus<br />

Morocco (in fact, such comparisons may be inherently impossible). Nonetheless, my general<br />

impression is that Jews in Morocco tended to use Islamic courts for intra-Jewish matters<br />

somewhat less often than did Jews in the Ottoman Empire. 110 Yet even when Jews had<br />

significantly more control over their own affairs, they still used Islamic courts with great<br />

frequency, both for inter- and intra-religious matters. Given the relatively greater degree of legal<br />

independence in Morocco, the fact that Jews navigated among a variety of different legal orders<br />

is even more significant that it would be had their judicial institutions possessed less authority.<br />

Organization of the Dissertation<br />

The three parts of this dissertation are organized thematically rather than chronologically.<br />

Instead of starting in 1830 and progressing linearly to French colonization in 1912, I have chosen<br />

to examine each type of legal institution (sharī‘a courts, the Makhzan as legal arbiter, and<br />

consular courts) in turn. This is not because each operated to the exclusion of the others; Jews<br />

did not frequent sharī‘a courts or appeal to the Makhzan or submit cases for adjudication in a<br />

consular court. Indeed, Jews appeared in all three legal venues, sometimes even for the same<br />

cases. Yet I examine each legal order separately in order to best elucidate the kinds of cases that<br />

Jews brought to each kind of court as well as their respective institutional histories. This<br />

approach necessarily shifts the focus of my analysis somewhat away from change over time. In<br />

order to avoid obscuring the important transformations in legal institutions and legal practice<br />

which took place over the course of the nineteenth century, throughout the dissertation I discuss<br />

changes in the functioning and usage of these legal orders.<br />

110<br />

My understanding of how often Jews brought intra-Jewish cases to Ottoman sharī‘a courts comes mainly from<br />

Al-Qattan, “Dhimmis in the Muslim Court,” and Wittmann, “Before Qadi and Vizier,” Chapter 1.<br />

38

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