Legal document: JRL Gaster ar. 806

Description

Two legal documents concerning the same case. The first is a Muslim legal query together with the ruling/fatwā, in Arabic script. The second is a Jewish court record, in Judaeo-Arabic. Dated: [12]48 AH, which is 1832/33 CE. The legal query reads, "A Jewish woman died, and some man came and demanded a bribe from her husband and brother "as is their custom" (ʿalā ʿādatihim)" The ruling of the jurist Aḥmad al-Tamīmī al-Khalīlī al-Ḥanafī: the bribe is invalid and the husband and brother can demand their money back. The Jewish court record reports that Yiṣḥaq Levi came with a messenger from the Muslim court, presented the fatwā, and demanded a reimbursement from the community for the burial expenses for his wife. The community pays up, and Yiṣḥaq releases them from further claims. The viewpoints in the 2 documents are strikingly opposed. The Ḥanafī court apparently objects to an administrative practice within the Jewish community ("he took a bribe as is their custom"). In the Judaeo-Arabic document, Yiṣḥaq is the one presented as extorting the community with an unjust demand. There are two official seals on this document, the first belonging to the Muslim authority (Aḥmad al-Tamīmī al-Ḥanafī), the second belonging to the Jewish authority Yosef Mas___[?]. The surname in l.15 is repeated in the ink stamp seal but neither is completely legible. MCD. ASE.