Letter on the Forced Conversion of the Yemenite Jews

This partially surviving letter, written in Judeo-Arabic and preserved in the Cairo Geniza, contains two reports, the first about the forced conversion of the leader of the Yemenite Jewish community, Sheikh Maḍmūn, and the second consisting of a price list of various commodities. The conversion of Maḍmūn, whose full Hebrew name was Shemariah ben David, was, it seems, only temporary, as we know that, in a letter from July 1202, he heralded his community’s return to Judaism. Around the year 1199, Muslim persecutions of Yemenite Jews increased, and many Jews found solace in the declarations of a local messianic claimant. These events spurred Maimonides’ exchange with Yemenite Jewry over how to treat such would-be messiahs. Ellipses indicate lacunae in the manuscript.