Sol Hachuel

Solika "Sol" Hachuel (; ; ; 1817 – June 5, 1834) was a Moroccan Jewish woman from Tangier who, according to later recounts, was executed by decapitation in Fez in 1834, at the age of 17, for apostasy after her Muslim neighbors testified that she had converted to Islam, which she refuted. Her story has been retold in a variety of languages and genres over the following century, with each retelling affected by its own language, cultural context, and historical circumstances. falsely claimed she converted Hachuel to Islam.

Another account states that "she fell in love with a Muslim boy", who demanded her hand in marriage. The father of the boy threatened her family with bitter suffering, if they don't let her convert to Islam and marry his son. In another account, the pasha of Tangier promised to marry her if she converted to Islam. Rabbi Jacob Tolédano wrote in his 1911 book Ner ha-Ma'arav

The reasons are not entirely clear, but it seems that a young Muslim who was in love with Sol and a neighbor woman, also Muslim, were involved. Both attempted to convince her to convert, but when she refused, they denounced her to the governor, who had her executed. Life Hachuel was born in 1817 in Morocco, to Chaim and Simcha Hachuel, and had one older brother. Her father was a merchant and Talmudist. He conducted a study group in his home, which helped Sol form and maintain her own belief in Judaism. Sol's mother was a housewife.

Arrest and execution Based on an unverified claim of her conversion to Islam, Hachuel was brought to court and told to kneel before the governor. If she promised to convert, she was promised protection from her parents, silk and gold, and marriage to a handsome young man. If she did not convert, the pasha threatened her as follows:

The girl responded:

The pasha imprisoned Sol in a windowless and lightless cell with chains around her neck, hands, and feet. Her parents appealed to the Spanish vice-consul, Don José Rico, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

The pasha sent Hachuel to Fez, where the sultan would decide her fate. The fee for her transfer (and eventual execution) was to be paid by her father, who was threatened with 500 blows of the bastinado if he did not comply. Eventually, Don José Rico paid the required sum because Sol's father could not afford it.

In Fez, the Sultan appointed the qadi to decide Sol's punishment. The Qadi summoned the Jewish sages of Fez and told them that unless Sol converted, she would be beheaded and the community punished. Although the hakhamim urged her to convert to save herself and their community, she refused. She was convicted and sentenced to death, and the qadi ruled that her father would bear the cost of her burial. The sultan's son also tried to convince her to convert to Islam for her beauty, but she refused.

Sol was beheaded in a public square in Fez. Romero described the emotions of the citizens of Fez on the day of the execution:

Apparently, the sultan instructed the executioner to wound Sol first, hoping that the sight of her own blood would frighten her into accepting conversion.

The Jewish community paid for the retrieval of her corpse, her head and the bloodstained earth for a Jewish burial at the Jewish cemetery. She was declared a martyr.

The Jews called Hachuel "Sol ha-Tzaddikah" , and the Arabs called her Lalla Suleika . Her grave became a place of pilgrimage for both Jews and Muslims alike. Léon Godard explains the custom in his Description et histoire du Maroc:

Headstone French and Hebrew inscriptions, with different messages, on the headstone of Sol Hachuel in Morocco. Her headstone in the Jewish cemetery in Fez has inscriptions in Hebrew and French, with different messages in each language. +Translations of text on the headstone of Sol Hachuel in Jewish Cemetery in FezFrench:Hebrew:Here lies Miss Solica Hatchuel, born in Tangier in 1817

refusing to enter into the Islamic religion

Arabs assassinated her in Fez in 1834

uprooting her from her family.

The whole world regrets this saintly child. The gravestone of the righteous Soliqa Haguel, a virgin maiden who greatly sanctified the Name of Heaven and died a martyr

in the glorious city of Fez in the year 5594 (1834) [and is] buried here.

May the Lord protect her.

May her merit protect us.

May it be God's will. The French text emphasizes the 'evil of Islam' and her martyrdom, blaming "the Arabs" for assassinating her for refusing to convert to Islam, while the Hebrew version emphasizes her life as a virtuous martyr and role model in the "glorious city" of Fez. According to Sharon Vance, these different French and Hebrew characterizations reflect the differences of European and Jewish narratives of the story of Sol Hachuel.