Exile in the Maghreb: Jews under Islam, Sources and Documents, 997–1912

675 Pages·2016·8.47 MB·English

by  Paul B. Fenton

Exile in the Maghreb:
Jews under Islam

Exile in the Maghreb:
Jews under Islam
Sources and Documents,
997–1912
Paul B. Fenton and David G. Littman
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Madison • Teaneck
Originally published in French by Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne as L’exil au Maghreb: la
condition juive sous l’islam, 1148-1912 in 2010. Translated and published in English with permission
by Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne. 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France.
[email protected]
This project was made possible by a Grant from the Middle East Forum. The views expressed herein
do not necessarily represent those of the Middle East Forum.
This work was also made possible by a grant from The Ahmanson Charitable Community Trust.
Published by Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Copublished by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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English translation copyright © 2016 by Paul Fenton and David Littman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Fenton, Paul, author. | Littman, David, 1933-2012, author.
Title: Exile in the Maghreb : Jews under Islam, sources and documents,
997-1912 / Paul B. Fenton and David G. Littman.
Other titles: Exil au Maghreb. English
Description: Madison [N.J.] : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2016. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015039904| ISBN 9781611477870 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN
9781611477887 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Jews—Africa, North—History. | Judaism—Relations—Islam. |
Islam—Relations—Judaism.
Classification: LCC DS135.A25 F4613 2016 | DDC 305.892/4061—dc23 LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039904
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/
NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
In Memory of Hayyim Zeev Hirschberg (1903–1976)
Eminent historian of North African Jewry
In recollection of a deep and cherished friendship
Figure 1. H. Z. Hirschberg visiting the library of Rabbi Joseph Ben Naim, Fez, 1955.
Centre de la culture judéo-marocaine, Brussels. Dahan-Hirsch Collection.
Pity the oppressed dove in Hagar’s palm,
Broken and crushed in the tyrant’s hold.
O God Eternal with your merciful balm,
Illumine the gloom of your nation, humbled but bold.
Anonymous Hebrew poet, Morocco, 19th century
David al-Qā’im, ed., Shir yedidūt, Marrakesh, 1927, fol. 99b.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xxi
List of Abbreviations xxv
Preface to the English Edition xxvii
Preface to the First Edition xxix
Acknowledgments xxxv
Introduction 1
Historical Context 1
The Socioeconomic Situation of North African Jewry from the
Sixteenth Century 6
Algeria
Under the Ottoman Regencies (1529–1830) 7
From the French Conquest to the Crémieux Decree (1830–1870) 12
Morocco
Under the Sa‘dids (1509–1659) 14
Under the ‘Alawids (1666–1800) 16
Persecutions under Mawlāy Yazīd (1790–1791) 21
Suffering in Isolation (1800–1860) 21
European Humanitarian Intervention (1863–1864) 26
Tyranny in the Empire (1867–1877) 29
The Question of Foreign Protection (1863–1880) 30
A Decade of Absolute Dhimmitude (1884–1894) 31
The Death of the Sultan and Tribal Uprising (1894–1896) 32
A New Century, Old Vicissitudes (1896–1906) 32
The Tragic Events in Casablanca (August 1907–February 1908) 33
The Massacre of the Jews in Settatand Casablanca (1907–January 1908) 34
Pacification and the Fate of the Jews (1909–1912) 36
The Pogrom of Fez (April 1912) 36
vii
CONTENTS
PART ONE: HISTORICAL AND LITERARY SOURCES (A)
THE MAGHREB
FROM THE ZENĀTA TO THE WATTĀSIDS (990–1492) 47
A 1. Letter of Consolation from Rabbi Samuel ben Hofni, Head of the
Babylonian Academy of Sura, to the Congregation of Fez (ca. 997) 47
A 2. Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Elegy on the Destruction of the Jewish
Communities of Andalusia and the Maghreb under the
Almohads (1140) 48
A 3. Forced Conversions in the Maghreb (1148) 50
A 4. Joseph Ibn ‘Aqnīn on Forced Conversions and Discrimination
under the Almohads (Andalusia and the Maghreb) (ca. 1190) 51
A 5. ‘Neither Synagogue nor Church Is to Be Found throughout All
of the Muslim Countries of the Maghreb’ (ca. 1198) 55
A 6. Jews and Christians: ‘Islam or Death!’ (1203) 55
A 7. Fatwā concerning the Prohibition for a Jew to Build a House
Higher Than That of a Muslim (Tlemcen, ca. 1430) 57
A 8. The Qadi of Tlemcen on Discriminatory Measures Pertaining
to the Jews (ca. 1450) 57
A 9. The Fall of the Marīnids and the Massacre of the Jews (Fez 1465) 59
A 10. Muslim Justification of the Massacre (1465) 62
A 11. ‘[The Wattāsid Sultan Muhammad II] Was One of the Righteous
Gentiles for He Admitted the Jewish [Exiles from Spain] and
Treated Them Benevolently’ (1497) 63
ALGERIA
Al-MAGHĪLĪ FIXES THE DHIMMA SYSTEM (1492–1493) 69
A 12. Al-Maghīlī’s Treatise against the Jews (ca. 1491) 69
A 13. Fatwā on the Destruction of the Synagogues of Tu’at (ca. 1492) 85
UNDER THE OTTOMAN REGENCIES (1529–1830) 90
A 14. The Condition of the Jews of Algiers as Seen by a Christian
Captive (1581) 90
A 15. ‘Amongst the Turks, They Are the Most Despised and the Most
Persecuted People in the World’ (Algiers, 1626) 91
A 16. The Destruction of the Synagogues in Algiers (1706) 93
A 17. A Jew, Falsely Accused of Murder, Is Burnt to Death (Algiers, 1720) 94
A 18. ‘They Live amidst the Wretchedness Both of Poverty and Slavery,
besides the Contempt and Insults of All the Other Nations’
(Algiers, 1724) 95
A 19. Jews Molested in Algiers (1788) 97
A 20. ‘Such is the Gross Indignation the Mahometans Bear toward the
Jewish Religion, That a Turk May with Impunity Murder Ten of
Them’ (Algiers, 1793) 98
viii
CONTENTS
A 21. Accusation of Ritual Murder (Algiers, ca. 1795) 98
A 22. ‘The Most Terrible Punishments Are Those Inflicted upon the
Jews’ (Algiers, 1796) 99
A 23. ‘They Are Obliged to Distinguish Themselves from the Other
Inhabitants by Their Attire’ (Algiers, 1798) 100
A 24. The Assassination of Naftali Bujnah and the Massacre of the Jews
of Algiers (1805) 103
A 25. The Massacre of the Jews of Algiers as Reported in the Times (1805) 105
A 26. Judeo-Arabic Elegy on the Massacre of the Jews of Algiers (1805) 106
A 27. The Precarious Reign of the King of the Jews (Algiers, 1807–1811) 113
A 28. The Execution of David Cohen-Bacri (Algiers, 1811) 116
A 29. Persecution of the Jews in Algiers (1816) 117
A 30. ‘They Are Oppressed by the Higher Ranks, and Reviled and
Insulted by the Rabble’ (Algiers, 1816) 118
A 31. William Shaler, American Consul: ‘The Jews at This Day in
Algiers, Constitute One of the Least Fortunate Remnants of Israel
Existing’ (ca. 1816) 121
A 32. Discriminatory Measures against the Jews of Algiers (ca. 1820) 122
A 33. Legal Proceedings Involving Jews under Turkish Rule (Algiers, 1834) 123
FROM THE FRENCH CONQUEST TO THE CRÉMIEUX DECREE
(1830–1870) 127
A 34. The Situation of the Jews of Algiers on the Eve of the Conquest
(1830) 127
A 35. The Liberation of the Jews of Algiers (1832) 129
A 36. A Missionary in Algiers (1833) 130
A 37. ‘A Sorely Oppressed People, upon Whom All the Mohammadan
Races and Sects Vented Their Hate and Haughtiness’ (1836) 130
A 38. Plea for Help from the Jews of Oran (1842) 131
A 39. Strange Nostalgia of Dhimmihood (1834) 132
A 40. Judeo-Muslim Relations after the French Conquest (ca. 1841) 133
A 41. ‘As Long as the Jew Pays the Tribute and Does Not Raise His Voice
to a Muslim, He Has a Right to Be Protected’ (Oran, ca. 1841) 134
A 42. Jews and Muslims in Algiers (1844) 135
A 43. Forced Conversion of the Jews of Tuggurt (1860) 135
A 44. Muslim Fanaticism in Setif (1863) 139
A 45. Intercommunal Tensions in Algeria (1871) 139
MOROCCO
UNDER THE SA‘DIDS (1509–1659) 145
A 46. Leo Africanus on the Jews of Morocco (ca. 1510) 145
A 47. Nicolas Clénard on the Jews of Fez (1541) 146
A 48. Mawlāy ‘Abdallah and the Jews of Fez (ca. 1557) 146
A 49. Fatwā on the Destruction of the Synagogue of Illīgh (ca. 1640) 147
ix