David M. Hart’s scientific contributions

This article studies the various ’urf, or customary law documents found amongst the Swasa tribes of the Susu region of Southern Morocco, from the oldest of them ‐ the fifteenth century Ajarif ’urf‐ until the beginning of the Protectorate in 1912. Particular attention is paid to the treatment of homicide, given the prevalence of the feud in the region. The ’urf today is a dead letter, as it was first undermined by the shari'a during the nineteenth century and then finally destroyed by the French legal system instituted under the Protectorate.