Ancient Islam

Muhammads lifetime

Period: 570 to Jan 1, 632

Muhammad was born in Mecca to a merchant family in 570. Both parents died by the time he was six, so he was then raised by his uncle. He later on married a rich widw, Khadija, his employer

Muhammads journey to Medina

Jan 1, 622

In 622 Muhammad and some of his closest supporters, mainly from his own Hashemite clan, left the city and headed north to the rival city of Yathrib, later given the name of Medina, or “city of the prophet.” That flight was known in history as the Hegira and marks the first date of the official calendar of Islam.Image

The sacred shrine of Islam

Jan 1, 630

In 630 Muhammad visited the ka’aba, where he ordered the destruction of the idols of the traditional faith, and declared it a sacred shrine of islam. Just two years later, in 632, Muhammad died, just as islam was beginning to expand throughout the peninsula. Image

Muslims expansion

Jan 1, 636

By 636 the Muslims had defeated the Byzantine army at the Yarmuk river, north of the dead sea. Four years later, in 640, they took possession of the Byzantine province of syria. To the east, in 637, the Arabs defeated a Persian force and later on conquered the entire empire of the Sassanids by 650. During this time Egypt and other areas of North Africa were also brought under Arab authority. Image

Muhammad's first caliph

Jan 1, 656

Some of Muhammad’s followers did not agreed with the selection of Abu Bakr as the first caliph and promoted the candidacy of Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as an alternative. Ali’s claim was not noticed by other leaders but after Abu Bakr’s death, the office was passed to another one of Muhammad’s followers, Umar. In 656, Umar’s successor, Uthman, was killed, and Ali, who happened to be in Medina at the time, was finally given the position. <a href='http://http://www.religionfacts.com/is

The Umayyads Beginning

Jan 1, 661

in 661 Ali was assassinated and replaced by the governor of Syria, and one of Ali’s biggest rivals, Mu’awiya. Mu’awiya then made the selection of caliphs hereditary. They were then called the Umayyads, a branch from the Quraishi clan, who stayed in power for nearly a century. Image

The rise of the Umayyads

Period: Jan 1, 661 to Jan 1, 750

The Umayyads were the first caliph and ruled for less than 100 years. It was later on taken over by The Abbasid's in 750

Arab Expansion

Jan 1, 710

in 710, after expanding into the eastern Mediterranean, Arab forces along with the Berber allies, whom they had conquered in North Africa, took over southern Spain. By 725, the Umayyads had taken over most of the Iberian peninsula, making it a Muslim state with its center in Andalusia. image

Succession problems

Jan 1, 750

Umayyad rule caused resentment in Mesopitamia and North Africa, and the Umayyads corrupt behavior contributed to their own demise. Finally in 750, the Umayyads were overthrown in a revolt led by a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, Abu al-Abbas. This led to the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty. In 762 the Abbasids made a new cpaital, Baghdad, on the Tigris River to the east of Damascus, the Umayyad capital. image

The Abbasids

Period: Jan 1, 750 to Jan 1, 1258

The Abbasids brought cultural, economic, and political changes to the Islam world. This was one of the longest caliphs and mmost successful

Fall of the Andalusia

Jan 1, 1009

In 1009 the Raoyal palace of the Andalusia, at Cordoba was destroyed in a civil war and twenty years later the caliph was destroyed. In 1085 the Christian king of Castile, Alfonso, siezed Toledo, Adalusia's main intellectual center. In 1086 Berber merchants destroyed Casatilian forces, but then stayed in the area to establish their own rule over the Muslims remaining. In 1212 Pope Innocent lll called for a new crusade to take over Muslim rule in Spain.

The Seljuk Turks

Jan 1, 1055

In 1055 a Turkish leader captured Baghdad and took command of the empire with the name of sultan. While the Abbasid caliph stayed the chief representative of Sunni religious authority, Seljuk Turk held real military and political power. In 1071 the Byzantines challenged the Turksand their army was routed at Manzikert, near LakeVan in eastern Turkey, and the winners conquered most of the Anatolian peninsula. The Byzantine Empire then turned to the west to help them, which led to the Crusades. <a

The Crusades

Jan 1, 1096

Starting in 1096 throughout the thirteenth century, the Crusades, a series of Christian incursions on Islamic territory, brought the holy land and adjacent areas on the Mediterranean coast from Antioch to the Sinai peninsula, under Christian power. The armies of the first Crusades succeded in taking over Jerusalem, in 1099. In 1169, Suni Muslims under the rule of Saladin, brought an end to the Fatimid dynasty. Saladin then gained control over both Eygpt and Syria. <a href='http://http://media-cd

The captial

Mar 2, 2022

Harun al-Rashid, whose rein was known as the "golden age'" of the Abbasid caliphate, was the best known caliph of the times of 786-809. His son al-Ma'mun was a interested in astronomical observations, and he established a foundation for undertaking translations of classical Greek works. This time was a large period of growing economic prosperity. Baghdad became the center of an large commercial market that added to the wealth of the Islamic world. <a href='http://http://excellentworlds.com/data_