Execution of Juda ibn Shushan, persecutions

Under the Almohad regime, Judaism in Fès existed only in secret: forcibly converted for some twenty years, it continued behind closed doors in houses where one lived outwardly as a Muslim.

Juda ha-Kohen ibn Shushan, who was its recognized figure, was denounced, summoned to renounce his faith sincerely, and executed for having refused. His death marked the end of accommodation: those who could left the city.

Maimonides, who was residing in Fès at the time, departed shortly afterward for the Land of Israel and then for Egypt. This execution has been linked to his *Epistle on Forced Conversion*, in which he distinguishes between the formula pronounced under threat — which does not constitute apostasy — and the sincere profession of faith, and in which he urges his readers to choose emigration rather than martyrdom.