Berber Dahir

The so-called Berber Dahir is a dahir (decree) created by French protectorate in Morocco on May 16, 1930. It was an adaptation of secular, traditional Berber laws to the conditions of the time. The French wanted to facilitate their takeover of the Berber tribes' property while maintaining the Berber customary laws in place. The laws would only apply on some Berber-speaking regions, where the Islamic laws were already not applied. This decree was signed by Mohammed V the Moroccan king at the time. The Dahir was cancelled following pressure by Arab-minded nationalists and Islamists, who saw it as a threat to Arab rule and Islamic sharia. The decree's original French name translates to: The decree that manages the course of justice in the regions of Berber customs.

The core general objective of the French occupation authority was the takeover of the lands of the Berber tribes under a legal cover.

A first formulation appeared under the influence of a group of specialists of Berbers of High Atlas and Middle Atlas, such as Maurice Le Glay (civil Controller and author of Récits de la plaine et des monts, les sentiers de la guerre et de l'amour, la mort du Rougui etc.), a core of professors hostile to Islam and in collaboration with bishop of Rabat. The purpose of this dahir was the adaptation of a so-called "Berber Justice" to the proper conditions of the time and, which corresponded to the spirit of the French policy in Morocco under the governance of the Resident-General Lyautey who signed the dahir of September 11, 1914.

The fundamental characteristic of this policy consisted in preserving the traditional autonomy of Berbers, primarily in the legal field, by disassiociating them from the Islamic legislation or "Chrâa", and by maintaining their common law known as or "Azref". The residence was mobilized to apply its plan by making the sultan Yusef sign the Dahir or legislative text, which will disassociate in fact some Berber tribes from the Islamic law, making all the calls for the judgements related to the French jurisdiction.

...
Wikipedia