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32-493: In 1855, the new ruler of Tunis Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn , abolished many of the petty restrictions which had previously encroached on Jewish life. He also engaged Nassim Shamama as Receiver-General of Finances. At the time, relations between Tunisia and the European powers were governed by the capitulations , which granted extraterritoriality to European subjects, exempting them from Tunisian courts. The capitulations allowed

64-548: A "partisan" of the reforms being advanced off and on in Tunisia in the mid-nineteenth century. From 1857 to 1861 and from 1869 to 1877 Khayr al-Din , the high government official, was strongly advocating reform policies in political circles. Bin Diyaf took part in crafting the 1857 Fundamental pact (or Pledge of Security) guaranteeing the rights of non-Muslim Tunisians and non Tunisians. He collaborated with Khayr al-Din to establish

96-475: A few weeks after Sfez's execution, Muhammad Bey commented: 'If a rapid introduction of innovations and reforms created an apprehension that our Faith was in danger, the people would rise to a man and my government would fall... I was obliged to abide by the decision of the Sheraa (sic) (Islamic Law). Had I refused to do so the immediate consequences would have been more disastrous. Several hundred Moors inhabiting

128-631: A given political situation. In his official position, he performed his duties in close proximity with the Bey and the conservative elite, with old distinguished families and with the Muslim ulama who followed "an elaborate code of politesse." Bin Dayaf rendered his official services under Husain Bey (1824–1835), Mustafa Bey (1835–1837), Ahmed Bey (1837–1855), Muhammad Bey (1855–1859), and Sadok Bey (1859–1882). His death in 1874 occurred while Khayr al-Din

160-453: A number of Muslims were drinking. Another is that after he had been executed, the Jewish community was obliged to buy back his head, which was being used as a football by Muslims. Another still is that Sfez was lynched by a mob rather than executed by order of a court. Some narratives also omit the detail that the origin of the altercation was the killing of a Muslim child. One source claims that

192-521: A short time before his death." Other tasks were also assigned to him. In 1831 he was sent to the Ottoman Porte in Istanbul regarding fall-out from the 1830 French occupation of Algiers . In 1834 the Bey appointed Bin Diyaf as liaison between the quasi-independent al-Majlis al-Shar'i (supreme religious council) and the Bey's own vizier , regarding a civil war in neighboring Tarabulus and

224-580: A version of this transformational reformist law which proved acceptable to the Muslim community, and which Muhammad Bey officially issued in 1857. Bin Diyaf favored moderate reforms of the state. From his insider perspective, he came to understand that the Beys, in common with other Maghriban rulers, governed as functional autocrats. "Even though the personal exercise of power was tempered and circumscribed by religious and traditional restraints, it continued to be arbitrary and total." Bin Diyaf eventually became

256-643: The Fundamental Pact which recognised religious freedom and equality before the law for all inhabitants of the country, regardless of their religion. In a decree of 30 August 1858, he established the first modern municipal government for the city of Tunis. He considerably extended and embellished the Dar al-Taj Palace in La Marsa, stripping the old Mohamedia Palace favoured by his predecessor of building materials to do so. He died after only four years on

288-521: The 1824 capitulations treaty between France and Tunis stipulated that Jewish agents in the service of France would continue to benefit from those privileges which had been decided upon in former capitulations for the Tunisian ports. The extent to which France could protect a Tunisian Jew by shielding him from Tunisian justice was thus at the heart of the Batto Sfez affair. As Sfez was Tunisian born, he

320-434: The 1864 revolt, Bin Diyaf tended to become gradually pushed aside from decision-making circles. Khayr al-Din managed to initiate institutional changes only for a while during his premiership (1873–1877). Despite his involvement in modernizing reforms, Bin Diyaf was personally familiar with, and adept at, the philosophy and practice of long-standing social and state traditions. He knew the customary etiquette expected of him in

352-544: The 7th-century arrival of the Arabs, devotes the most attention to details of the Husainid dynasty (1705–1957), during the 18th and 19th centuries. His writing is informed by his experience as chancellery secretary during the reigns of five Beys in succession. Bin Diyaf himself eventually favored the reform view, which was current then in Tunisian politics. His letter in reply to questions about Tunisian women has also attracted

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384-503: The Bey on behalf of his employee were unsuccessful, and instead he sought support from the French and British consuls. However Muhammad Bey issued the execution order the same day that the court issued a guilty verdict, and Sfez was summarily beheaded on 24 June 1857. His head was then kicked through the city and then smashed with stones and the authorities refused to release his body for proper Jewish burial. In an interview with Consul Wood

416-411: The Beys from the 18th century, and on his own experiences as a beylical official during the 19th. These 'Husainid' volumes present "an abundance of personal and accurate information". For example, Bin Diyaf sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the notorious trial of Batto Sfez in 1857. The last two volumes contain over 400 biographies of "leading statesmen and religious figures who died between

448-645: The European powers to extend their protection and the shield of extraterritoriality to those working for them, but the Beys of Tunis sought to limit this narrowly. Thus Hammuda Bey (1782–1814) refused to recognise the registration of a Tuscan Jew from Livorno who had settled in Tunis as a French protégé. He argued that the Livorno Jews who had come to Tunis several generations previously were his subjects and not entitled to protection as if they were French. Nevertheless

480-505: The Ottoman Tanzimat . Muhammad Bey therefore agreed to what became known as the Fundamental Pact ( Arabic : عهد الأمان ) ( 'Ahd al-Aman or Pledge of Security) drawn up by Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf , on 10 September 1857. The Pact guaranteed people security in their lives and property, equality of taxation (thus implicitly abolishing the discriminatory jizya tax imposed on non-Muslims), religious freedom and equality before

512-543: The Tunisian government during 1963–1966. Recently, this work's relatively short "Introduction" ("Muqaddima") has been translated into English by Princeton professor Leon Carl Brown . Of eight volumes, the first six address Tunisian history from the arrival of the Muslim Arabs forward. The account is summary until 1705, when the Husainid dynasty commences. Bin Diyaf draws on his study of the archives and background of

544-710: The designs of the Ottoman Empire there. He returned on business to Istanbul in 1842 and accompanied Ahmed Bey to Paris in 1846. His famous letter on the status of women was written in 1856. As part of his duties, Bin Diyaf also served as a mediator, e.g., to assist in resolving a dispute between two imams at the Zitouna Mosque . Bin Diyaf composed the Arabic version of the ^Ahd al-Aman ("Security Covenant," or "Fundamental Pact") (prepared originally in French),

576-553: The famous, though short-lived, Constitution of 1861, which was opposed by the conservative ulama .; Bin Diyaf was the one who officially read the new constitution to the national assembly. Bin Diyaf also crafted the new list of lectures at the University of the Zeytuna Mosque, pivoting towards a more modern curriculu. He was named president of the commission judging matters between Tunisians and foreigners. However, after

608-409: The inside story... and his undeniable perceptiveness and intelligence". "Bin Diyaf not only reconstructs the story as seen from within. He reveals himself and, through him, the agonies and hopes of his generation and class. A heightened appreciation of the ideological confrontation between traditional Islam and the intruding West necessarily results." Bin Diyaf's description of dynasty politics and of

640-545: The interest of scholars of history. Bin Diyaf was born into a prominent family from the Awlad ʿUn tribe from the Siliana region, and his father being an important scribe for the ruling regime. Trained thoroughly in the traditional religious curriculum, Bin Diyaf entered government service in 1827. "He was soon promoted to the post of private (or secret) secretary, a position he held under successive beys until his retirement only

672-408: The law. It also permitted foreigners to own land, participate in all types of businesses and set up separate commercial courts. Some narratives indicate that the generally accepted account above is not complete, and add detail for which there may not be reliable sources. These include, for example, that the altercation between Batto Sfez broke out in a tavern rather than in a street, where both he and

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704-554: The lives of officials "make the work a major reference source for the period." His Risalah fi al'mar'a [Epistle on Women] was a response to a list of 23 questions posed by Léon Roches , then French Consul General in Tunis. Written longhand in 1856, the thirty-page manuscript addresses the social role of women in Tunisia, their legal rights and duties, regarding family and conjugal relations: marriage, divorce, polygamy , public presence (veiling, seclusion, segregation, repudiation), household tasks and management, and lack of education. It

736-510: The local Jewish community as well as to European businessmen and hence the French and British consuls, Léon Roches and Richard Wood. The Jewish and Christian communities sent a delegation to the French Emperor Napoleon III urging the danger they faced. In response France sent a naval squadron of nine ships and seven hundred cannon to La Goulette to insist that Muhammad Bey promptly adopt a series of reforms modelled on

768-454: The quarter of Bab Sueka had armed themselves and were prepared, upon any hesitation on my part to carry out the sentence, to attack the Jews and Christians, two or three hundred of whom (had) taken measures for their protection. Should I have been justified to run such a risk and to expose them and myself to this direful catastrophe? In the case of a Musulman (sic) who was condemned for Blasphemy,

800-732: The rank of divisional general in the Ottoman army in August 1840, and was raised to the rank of marshal on 7 August 1855, shortly after he succeeded his cousin Ahmad Bey on 30 May 1855. He retained his predecessor's key minister Mustapha Khaznadar as Grand vizier and surrounded himself with competent ministers such as Kheireddine Pacha and Generals Hussain and Rustum as well as devoted counsellors including Mohamed Bayram IV , Mahmoud Kabadou and Ismaïl Caïd Essebsi . After his accession he proceeded with reforms, including, on 10 September 1857,

832-459: The reason for the French intervention was that Sfez was a French subject. Muhammad II ibn al-Husayn Mohammed Bey ( Arabic : أبو عبد اله محمد باشا باي ) or M'hamed Bey (18 September 1811 – 22 September 1859) was the eleventh Husainid Bey of Tunis , ruling from 1855 until his death. He was the son of Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud and his second wife Lalla Fatima al-Munastiri. As Bey al-Mahalla (Heir Apparent) he had been awarded

864-569: The throne and was buried in the Tourbet el Bey in the Medina of Tunis . Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf Ahmad ibn Abi Diyaf ( Arabic : أحمد بن أبي الضياف ) (1804, Tunis – 1874), known colloquially as Bin Diyaf , was the author of a chronicle of Tunisian history . He was also a long-time and trusted official in the Beylical government of Tunisia. His multi-volume history, while it begins with

896-405: The time of the accident. With a court case underway, the Jewish community offered a very large sum of money to secure Sfez's release. However Shamama had previously incurred the Bey's displeasure by pressing him to deal with a case of a Muslim who had murdered a Jew. This had led, just a few days before Batto Sfez's arrest, to the unpopular execution of the Muslim. As a result, his representations to

928-403: The years 1783 and 1872." Included are the careers of many ulama and others, holding such offices as: shadhid (witness), katib (clerk), qaid (judge), mufti (jurisconsult), and imam (prayer leader). He labored over the details of this chronicle more than ten years. Evident in the pages are his "mastery of the customary notions of bureaucratic practice in combination with his access to

960-400: Was not entitled to consular protection. In 1856, Sfez was driving his master's cart through the crowded streets of Tunis when he accidentally ran over and killed a Muslim child. In the quarrel which followed, he apparently insulted Islam, which was a capital crime. There were plenty of witnesses who had heard Sfez curse his opponent and his religion, and who also testified that he was drunk at

992-537: Was not my relative obliged by the ulemas and the people to sanction the sentence and sacrifice the Blasphemer in order to avoid an insurrection and the effusion of the blood of thousands? Nevertheless for six days and nights I and my Minister revolved the matter in our minds in the hope of finding means of saving the accused whose life I call God, who will judge me hereafter, to witness, I would have spared if it had been in my power.' These events caused great concern to

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1024-536: Was serving as the premier. The reigning monarch and head of state, under whom Bin Dayaf had labored, attended his funeral ceremony. His major work was in Arabic, Ithaf Ahl al-zaman bi Akhbar muluk Tunis wa 'Ahd el-Aman , translated as: Presenting Contemporaries the History of Rulers of Tunis and the Fundamental Pact . A complete version, newly edited, of the Arabic text was published in eight volumes by

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