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Demystifying “Islamic Slavery”: Using Legal Practices to Reconstruct the End of Slavery in Fes, Morocco

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2014

R. David Goodman
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Abstract:

This article uses Muslim court records from Fes, Morocco, to challenge the concept of “Islamic slavery.” Analysis of legal actions containing references to domestic slaves for nearly six decades (1913-1971) uncovers an era of emancipation without public historical watersheds but rather with a subtle, gradual accumulation of changes in social processes. After discussing the background on slavery in Morocco and the limitations of “Islamic slavery,” notarized family court records are examined to demonstrate that slavery did not end as a consequence of official changes to laws (French or Moroccan), nor through masters granting their slaves legal manumissions. Rather, it is argued that domestic slavery ended at a staggered pace amid social, familial and personal changes more observable through attention to the dynamics across households and generations than to administrative policies or external legal forces.

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Type
Slavery Debates
Information
History in Africa , Volume 39 , 2012 , pp. 143 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2012

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