192 · Rachel Simon
Religion
The Ottoman authorities, in line with the Covenant of Omar, did not
intervene in Jewish religious life, and they enabled Jews to fulfill their
religious obligations. Thus, for example, they cooperated with the com-
munity regarding the settings of Sabbath limits ( ̔eruv) in 1876 and keep-
ing the Sabbath and kosher food in state circles (elected assemblies and
the military).^59
Jews and Muslims in Libya shared many similar customs and popular
beliefs resulting from their long coexistence. Worship of saints, sacred
sites, and various objects was very common in the region. Some of the
objects of adoration were shared by Jews and Muslims, and quite often
Jews and Muslims went on pilgrimage to tombs of each other’s saints.
This phenomenon led at times to struggles over the ownership of these
sites and objects. Since the Muslims were the majority who were also in
control of the state until 1911 and again from 1952, they sometimes used
their power to take control over holy sites. This process grew stronger
following the abandonment of various regions by Jews in the late Otto-
man period and even more so on the eve of Libyan independence. This
demographic change served as a major catalyst for numerous Muslim
attempts to seize control over Jewish holy sites and even burn and des-
ecrate them.^60 In order to avoid conflicts with the Muslim society, espe-
cially when hardly any Jew remained in an area, the Jews usually did
not try to make good these distortions of justice. This was so even when
a non-Muslim regime, namely, the Italian, was ready to help the Jews in
this regard, due to its desire to acquire the goodwill of the Jews at the
start of its struggle against the Muslim rebellion. This Muslim behavior
can be viewed as a desire to take control over sites which had been sacred
to both religions, but might also reflect the intent to increase control over
land and buildings.
Culture
Jews and the Muslims influenced one another and shared many popular
beliefs, customs, and ways of expression, resulting from their lengthy co-
existence, but their cultural developments proceeded in separate spheres
and directions.