Intersecting Identities in 18th Century Jerusalem: Conversion to Islam

Abstract

This paper examines conversion to Islam in eighteenth-century Ottoman Jerusalem as a multifaceted transformation negotiated across social, legal, and economic domains. Drawing on Jerusalem Court Registers and the scholar al-Khal & imacr;l & imacr;'s (d. 1734, Jerusalem) fatw & amacr;s, the study suggests that conversion was both a declaration of faith and a mechanism for restructuring social boundaries. The removal of the yellow turban after the shah & amacr;da signalled a symbolic rupture that reshaped kinship, property and legal status. Court cases and fatw & amacr;s reveal that marriage, dowry, custody, inheritance, and debts were governed not only by Islamic law but also by social negotiation. While the situation of the children illustrates the fragility of social boundaries, the principle of subordination to one's origins was a crucial factor in the transmission of identity. Through the amalgamation of normative discourse with judicial practices, this article provides a nuanced micro-sociological contribution to the comprehension of Ottoman Jerusalem. Conversion transcends a personal change in belief and emerges as a social experience that reorganizes family ties, property relations, and social belonging. Consequently, conversion functions as a boundary-making site where integration and exclusion are contested and where symbolic authority intersects with material interests.