The Trained Triumphant Soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad

Abstract

This chapter examines the role jihad played in Ottoman war- and peace-making from the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774 to the Ottoman entry into World War I in late October 1914. During the “long nineteenth century” the Ottoman state utilized and developed the principles of jihad in ways that acknowledged new strictures in their relations with Europe. These strictures had put the Ottomans squarely on the defensive, and the call for religious solidarity in times of war became both a tool for mobilization and a mainstay of self-perception. At the same time, European powers beginning to tap into the geostrategic and commercial importance of the Middle East in the age of imperialism viewed jihad as a major threat that could unite Muslims worldwide and undermine Europe’s global reach. Both of these issues came together in a dramatic way in the Jihad Proclamation issued by the Ottoman government in November 1914.