The ʿAhd al-Amān (Security Covenant) was a declaration on September 9, 1857 by Muḥammad Bey (r. 1855–1859), of the Husaynid dynasty, which commenced a period of Western-inspired legal reforms in Tunisia. It was often referred to in Europe as the Fundamental Pact (le Pacte Fondamental) because it was a qānūn asāsī, which in contemporary Ottoman usage meant “constitutional law” (or constitution).

Although the edict was issued because of a localized situation involving Jews, it must be understood within the framework of the reformist and modernizing policies of the Tanzimat period, du…