Geniza Lab

Letter from Efrayim b. Ya'aqov. A man named Ibn al-Qābisī, who was banned from the Jewish community in four different cities in Iberia, arrived in Alexandria, and his relatives in the city demand that the local judge also apply the ban against him; the judge hesitates to do so, since he was informed that the man had threatened to embrace Islam if he was excommunicated again. The judge turned to Masliaḥ, the Head of the Yeshiva (probably Masliah ha-Kohen Gaon b. Shelomo, head of the Jews 1127–1139), in Fustat and asked him to place the ban on al-Qābisī. The writers of the letter ask other relatives to hurry and collect incriminating evidence again the newcomer so that the ban can be declared. (Information from Frenkel).

Letter from Alexandria to a man from Jerusalem, in Fustat. In Judaeo-Arabic. Dating: ca. 1060 CE. Concerning a communal dispute in Fustat. At the center of the dispute is Surūr Ibn Sabra, who is accused of converting to Islam in the west and marrying there a woman of low social standing. This is evidently related to the same dispute as in T-S K25.244, where Yehuda b. Yosef ("the Rav") had been accused of converting to Islam. Here, one of his accusers is accused of the same thing. Partial translation by Moshe Yagur: "[. . .] and Surūr b. Sabra is slandering you, vilifying you with every kind of ridiculous slur . . . and this letter from him, which I came across, speaks of you and me and Rav Yehuda the rabbi . . . and we have already agreed unanimously, I and the congregation, that we will excommunicate him on the Sabbath [. . .] and please notify the “head,” the judge, that the people of Jerusalem [. . .] that he, Surūr b. Sabra, this accursed one, had apostatized in the Maghrib and remained an apostate for several years. And his wife, Ibn Muhayyar [should be Ukht Muhayyar, as below] . . . was from the most despicable people. And when Ibn Sabra came nobody wanted him except Ukht Muhayyar, for the people considered him an apostate (fāshīʿ)." (Information from Moshe Yagur, "Several Documents from the Cairo Geniza Concerning Conversion to Islam," (2020).)