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Al-Masāq Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean, 2017
Mustaʿrib is a term that refers to the local Arabic-speaking Jews in Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The article discusses the Mustaʿrib community of Cairo in the late sixteenth century. Like other Medieval Jewish communities, the Mustaʿrib of Cairo had an advanced system for support of the needy. It included regular support for the poor, for widows and orphans, and occasional help for foreign travellers, captives, and more. Based on Genizah documents in Judaeo-Arabic, the article discusses the mechanism of welfare in that community and proves the influence of European Jewish immigrants on the construction of this system. The Mustaʿribs are romanticised in classic Zionist historiography as deeply rooted farmers. The article argues that the Mustaʿribs were first and foremost members of an urban population. It also suggests that contrary to the classic image of them as a fixed and unchanging population, which resided in the same area for successive generations, the Mustaʿrib society should be viewed as a society in motion. They adjusted to historical changes, were influenced by other Jewish cultures, and applied changes to improve their welfare system.
Living at the Margins of Poverty: The Begging Poor in the Ottoman Empire (1550-1750) PESA
Studies on the living conditions of the poor and the attitudes toward them not only expand our understanding of Ottoman society but also provide us with a better picture of the role of charity in Islam. Nevertheless, the history of poverty and the life of paupers in the Ottoman Empire have not been a major concern in modern Ottoman historiography. It is axiomatic that there exist very significant studies on pious endowments. Yet these studies are concerned more with the founders of these organizations than with their beneficiaries. Hence, the main purpose of this study is twofold: first, to offer glimpses of the physical and material conditions of a group that functioned at the margins of poverty: that of beggars; and secondly, to analyze social attitudes and administrative policies toward them. By using primary sources such as the mühimme registers and the court records of the period, I would suggest that The policies followed by the Ottoman state did not seek to marginalize the mendicant poor and in fact provided a definite place for them in the society. This fact is attested to by the existence of state-sanctioned professional guilds for beggars. It can be argued that the existence of such a social space reflected Islamic injunctions to give charity to the poor. That is to say, the recognition of the existence of beggars as an acknowledged part of the society was facilitated by the notion that the more affluent sections of the society could not fulfill their obligations otherwise. In the year 1574 an imperial decree was issued by the Ottoman Sultan 43 to the chief judge of Istanbul, informing and commanding him as follows: Some men and women who are not old (pir), poor (fakir), blind (a'mâ) or paralyzed (mefluc) but able to earn their living (kâr ve kisbe kadirler iken), commit beggary either wandering in the quarters of the capital or sitting [in a corner] and asking money (akçe cer idup) from by passers. Some buy blind and disabled male and female slaves and make them beg and earn money out of it. They were always able to get begging license (cer kağιdι) issued for them [blind and disabled male and female slaves] and present these licenses to his Excellency without even being ashamed. Some young ladies put shabby clothes on and sit among these kinds of people and being beggars. … named person who was appointed as the head of beggars (başbuğ) issued begging certificates in exchange for money [bribe]. It is 43 This is one of the titles of the Ottoman state.