War in the Bible and in Qur'an: A Comparative Study

The “founding texts” of each civilization shape the meaning of important issues for the lives of individuals and entire human communities. Such texts include the “holy books” of the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an, called the “threelaws” or “rules of life”. Each of these “rules of life” outlines a certain idea of war, which is one of the basic human experiences. A short comparative study shows the different emphases. The Old Testament shows Israel’s historical wars in which God becomes involved. The New Testament does not deal with the issue of war at all in the military sense, but shifts the emphasis to spiritual warfare. The Quran devotes a lot of space to war, especially religious war, without referring to the specific history of the nation, but points to the rules that a devout Muslim should follow during a conflict, including armed conflict.