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Birth of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah in Mecca
Muhammad was born in the year 570 in the town of Mecca, a mountain town in the high desert plateau of western Arabia. His name means "to praise, to glory'. -
Jan 1, 610
Muhammad begins career as a prophet.
Muhammad receives first revelation at Mt. Hira, near Mecca, there, he fasted and meditated and he begins career as a prophet. -
Mar 4, 622
The year of the Hijra: Muhammad and the Muslims migrate from Mecca to Medina.
Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all of his followers had left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate him. With the help of Ali, however, he fooled the Meccans who were watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town.By 622, Muhammad had emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis. Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of t -
Jan 1, 630
Muhammad wins control of Mecca.
They marched into Mecca and were joined by tribe after tribe along the way. They entered Mecca without bloodshed and the Meccans, decided to join them. -
Jan 1, 632
Muhammad dies
June 8, 632 he died there, after a brief illness. He is buried in the mosque in Medina. Within a hundred years Muhammad's teaching and way of life had spread from the remote corners of Arabia as far east as Indo-China and as far west as Morocco, France and Spain. -
Jan 1, 635
Conquest of Damascus.
The Muslim armies marched north and laid siege to Damascus. Then they went in and took control of the city. -
Mar 4, 637
Conquest of Syria and the fall of Jerusalem.
Our people held the city of Jerusalem for some eighty-nine years. . . . Within a short time, Saladin had conquered almost the whole Kingdom of Jerusalem. He ran by Mohammed's law and showed that, in the event, its might exceeded that of the Christian religion. -
Mar 4, 640
Conquest of Persia.
The persions tryed to defend themselves but they still invaded and the conversion to Islam was gradual. -
Mar 4, 655
Assassination of Uthman, the third caliph.
The first two caliphs, or ‘successors’, to the Prophet Muhammad, who left no male heir when he died in his early sixties in 632, were Abu Bakr and Umar, who presided over the campaigns which carried Islam outside Arabia into Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt and North Africa. -
Mar 4, 661
Death of Ali ibn Abi Talib
Death of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph and first Shii imam.Muawiya becomes caliph and founder of Umayyad dynasty -
Mar 5, 661
Revolt of the Khawarij
The Kharijites in Makkah met at the Kaaba, and commissioned three young men to carry the plot of murder into effect. Abdur Rahman b Maljam al Sarimi was chosen to assassinate Ali at Kufa. Barq b Abdullah was entrusted with the task of murdering Muawiyah. -
Mar 5, 700
Conquest and conversion of Berber tribes in North Africa.
The Berbers were the ancient indigenous people of North Africa west of Egypt. They were made up of many tribes, but they managed to maintain their culture, their Hamitic languages, and considerable military power during successive invasions of their land. In ancient times, North Africa had been colonized by the Phoenicians (who became the Carthaginians), they were followed by the Romans, the Vandals (one of the Germanic tribes that destroyed the Roman Empire), the Byzantines, and finally the Ara -
Mar 16, 705
Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyads convert the Christian Cathedral of St. John in Damascus into a Muslim mosque. Today the mosque is one of Islam's oldest and most sacred sites. -
Mar 16, 711
Muslims enter Spain in the west and India in the east.
711 C.E. Muslims enter Spain in the west and India in the east. Eventually almost the entire Iberian Peninsula is under Islamic control. -
Oct 10, 732
Battle of Tours, France.
The Battle of Tours was fought on October 10, 732 between forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel and a massive invading Islamic army led by Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi Abd al Rahman, near the city of Tours, France. During the battle, the Franks defeated the Islamic army and Emir Abd er Rahman was killed. This battle stopped the northward advance of Islam from the Iberian peninsula, and is co -
Mar 5, 750
Abbasid Family starts a New Caliphate
The Abbasids, supported by many groups in Islam, overthrew the Ummayad Caliph Marwan II. Most of the Umayyad family were killed except one family member who escaped to Spain where the Umayyads would continue in power.However the Abbasids would come to power in 750 and eventually build a new capital city in Baghdad. Islam is often considered to have gone through its "Golden Age" during the time of the Abbasids.The map shows the Abbasids at their greatest power in 850. -
Mar 16, 756
The Umayyad Emirate Rises
The Umayyad Emirate takes power in Cordova, Spain. Trade and Muslim culture prospered in the Iberian peninsula during this period. -
Mar 16, 1009
The First Crusade is Launched
The First Crusade is Launched
Christians engage in the first crusade against the Muslims. The Christians eventually accomplish their goal and recapture Jerusalem for Christendom. -
Mar 5, 1096
Pope Urban II launches the First Crusade to conquer Jerusalem.
n 1095 Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade, with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. -
Mar 5, 1099
Crusaders capture Jerusalem, ending the First Crusade.
During the First Crusade, Christian knights from Europe capture Jerusalem after seven weeks of siege and begin massacring the city's Muslim and Jewish population. -
Mar 5, 1111
Death of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, philosopher and theologian.
In philosophy, Ghazali upheld the approach of mathematics and exact sciences as essentially correct. However, he adopted the techniques of Aristotelian logic and the Neoplatonic procedures and employed these very tools to lay bare the flaws and lacunas of the then prevalent Neoplatonic philosophy and to diminish the negative influences of Aristotelianism and excessive rationalism. -
Mar 5, 1203
Founding of Mongol Empire by Genghis Khan.
The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes of historical Mongolia under the leadership of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan was proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and then under the rule of his descendants -
Mar 5, 1215
Mongol invasion of the Middle East begins
Mongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300. Historians regard the Mongol raids and invasions as some of the deadliest conflicts in human history. -
Mar 13, 1258
Death of Al-Musta'sim the Last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad
Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, has Al-Musta'sim rolled up in a carpet and trampled to death by horses because of the Mongol idea about not "shedding" royal blood. Even though all political power had long since been taken from the Caliph, this in a sense ends the Islamic Golden Age under the Abbasid Caliphate.The picture is supposedly one of Hulagu imprisoning Al-Musta'sim. -
Mar 5, 1380
Ottoman Empire rules much of the Middle East and eastern Europe.
The Ottoman Empire (Turkish: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu) was an imperial power that existed from 1299 to 1923 (634 years), one of the largest empires to rule the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. -
Mar 5, 1453
Constantinople (Istanbul) falls to Ottomans and becomes the new Ottoman capital; Byzantine Empire ends.
The capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state which had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a massive blow to Christendom, as the Ottoman armies thereafter were free to advance into Europe without an adversary to their rear -
Mar 16, 1453
Ottomans conquer the Byzantine and change its name to Istanbul.
1453 C.E. Ottomans conquer the Byzantine seat of Constantinople and change its name to Istanbul. -
Mar 5, 1517
Some Unity Restored to Islam
The Ottoman Sultan Selim I adopts the title of caliph. This restores a sense of unity to Islam, but not actual unity. -
The Wahhabi Movement Begins
The Wahhabi movement is founded by Muhammad Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. It operates as an additional sect of Islam. -
world war 1
World War I
The Ottoman Empire enters World War I. By this point, it controls Anatolia, most of the Arabian peninsula, Egypt, and the Sudan. -
The Ottoman Empire Falls
The Ottoman Empire officially ends.Two years later, the office of caliph is abolished. Islam has no collective, official political identity, but Muslims dominate many secular states in northern Africa, the Near and Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Central and Southeast Asia. -
The Nation of Islam is created in the U.S. by W. D. Fard.
1930 C.E. The Nation of Islam is created in the U.S. by W. D. Fard. It is based on some Islamic ideas, but contains innovations, such as the appointment or declaration of Elijah Muhammad as a prophet. -
Muslim Population Increases
Muslim Population Increases
The Muslim population grows to 20% of world’s total. Islam thus becomes the second-largest religion in the world. -
Abd al-Rahman III Declares Himself Caliph Instead of Emir of Al-Andalus
Abd al-Rahman III feeling secure in his power, and not intimidated by the Abbasids of the Middle East, takes back the title of Caliph (Successor of Mohammad) for the Umayyad Family.His rule propelled Al-Andalus to the forefront of the Islamic World. Al-Andalus became a center for learning and culture rivaled by very few places in the world at that time.This picture is of the Great Mosque of Cordoba (the capital city of Al-Andalus) one of the best examples of Spainish Islamic architecture. -
Death of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, hadith scholar and eponym of the Hanbali Legal School.
Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani was an important Muslim scholar and theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. -
Al-Khwārizmī Invents Algebra
The picture is a page taken from al-Khwārizmī's book, "The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing" -
Fatimid Caliphate Captures Cairo and Makes it the Capital of Its Empire
The Fatimid Caliphate was Shiite in origin (members claiming descent from Ali's wife and Mohammad's daughter Fatima) and had started a rival Caliphate (to the Abassids and Umayyads) in Tunisia in 909. By 969 they were able to capture Cairo and move thier capital there.The Fatimids were known for their tolerance. They even tended to advance Jews and Christians to very high levels of government based on merit.The map shows the Fatimid Empire in 969. It ended in 1171. -
First Written Biography of Muhammad
First Written Biography of Muhammad
The first written biography of Muhammad is recorded by Muhammad Ibn Ishaq. This first written record of the Prophet's life was followed by numerous biographical accounts. -
Islamic Rule Decentralized
Islamic Rule Decentralized
A Shi’ite band invades Baghdad undermining the Abbasid caliphs, who have become little more than figureheads. Until the 16th century, the rule of Islam is decentralized with different sects, regions, and rulers. -
Rise of Qarmatians
Rise of Qarmatians
A split among Isma'ili Shi'ah leads to the rise of the Qarmatian faction. Qarmatians actively revolt against the ruling Abbasids.
