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pay this (rather small) amount back within six months from the date of the document. Some bills
of debt also included the name of a guarantor who ensured payment of the debt in the event that
the debtor defaulted; in this case, ‘Abd al-Salām, Muḥammad’s relative (al-nasab), guaranteed
the debt. Not all bills of debt included a guarantor in the text of the agreement itself; in some
cases, a guarantor for payment was specified at a later date. 67
Besides bills of debt for goods sold on credit, two other types of money lending appear in
the Assarraf collection. The first was known as a salaf, which technically means an interest-free
loan. 68 In salaf bills of debt, the documents specify that the amount was loaned “as a salaf” (‘alā
wajhi al-salafi) and when the loan was due. 69 The exact parameters of a salaf loan varied
according to local custom, but it is likely that many (if not most) salaf loans incorporated hidden
interest into the agreement. 70 The second type was called a salam, and connotes the prepayment
for goods which were to be delivered by the debtor at a later date. These documents specified
that the debtor had received the “capital” (ra’s al-māl) from the creditor, and agreed to deliver a
certain amount of goods by such and such a date. For instance, in a bill of debt from 16 Dhū al-
wheat (a measure of volume; estimates of its value ranged from 24 to 64 liters, which was probably due in part to the
fact that the value was variable: Le Tourneau, Fès avant le protectorat, 278).
66
A mithqāl was originally a silver coin weighing 29 grams, but by the end of the eighteenth century a mithqāl
simply designated a monetary unit (Schroeter, Merchants of Essaouira, 142). The exchange rate between mithqāls
and foreign currency (most notably French francs by the end of the nineteenth century) fluctuated considerably; one
French riyāl (five francs) was equal to about 12 mithqāls in 1883 (at least in Essaouira: ibid.) and by 1908 one
French riyāl was worth between eight and fourteen mithqāls (Le Tourneau, Fès avant le protectorat, 283-4).
67
For instance, a bill of debt owed to Ya‘aqov and dated 15 Muḥarram 1310 was guaranteed exactly four years later
by the debtor’s son (on 15 Muḥarram 1314). There are dozens of examples of this sort of guarantee, which I discuss
further in the section on litigious documents below. There were formulas for a guarantor both as part of the original
bill of debt and as a separate document: see Binānī, al-Wathā’iq al-fāsīya, 47.
68
On salaf, see J. D. Latham, “Salaf,” in Encyclopedia of Islam, ed. P. Bearman, et al. (Leiden: Brill, 2003). See
also Schroeter, Merchants of Essaouira, 109, 12-13. For formulas for a salaf loan, see Binānī, al-Wathā’iq alfāsīya,
43.
69
Out of the 166 bills of debt I analyzed in detail, I found eight which were for a salaf loan. See, e.g., TC, File # 1,
bill of debt owed by Muḥammad b. Idrīs al-Miknāsī to Shalom (for 65 riyals), dated 17 Ramaḍān 1309.
70
See below for a discussion of accusations that Shalom had doubled the amount of a loan recorded, thus effectively
charging 100% interest. In other words, Shalom would loan 50 riyāls to a person, but would have a notarized bill of
debt drawn up which attested that he had lent him 100 riyāls; thus when it came time to pay the loan, the debtor
would be obligated to pay back 100 riyāls instead of the original 50 he had received. This is one method of charging
interest without appearing to contradict the sharī‘a.
88