ABSTRACT
The Qur’an is a spiritual book but it is also a practical one. Muslims see it as a personal guide to Allah’s path as well as a guide to establishing the Islamic ummah. Since power and territorial control are difficult to renounce, Islamic leaders have a privileged political interpretation of jihad over the spiritual elements of Islam. Since, according to Muslims, the Qur’an is Allah’s direct words, they recognize it as the most holy and unchangeable Islamic source. The Islamic juridical traditions, the history of the ummah and the formation of the Ottoman Empire have played a fundamental role in shifting the meaning of jihad towards holy war. Hence, Muslim scholars observed that Allah had revealed the Qur’an at different stages of Muhammad’s life, and subsequently at different stages of the history of the Islamic ummah. The Islamic state did not provide equipment for its soldiers and poor Muslim families could certainly not afford the high costs of war campaigns.
