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Period: 330 to Jan 1, 1453
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was one of the first empires to feel the strength of the newly united Arabs, now aroused to a peak of zeal by their common faith. Althrough the Arab triumph was made substantially easier by the ongoing conflict between the Byzantine and Persian Empires, whic weakened both powers. -
Period: 570 to Jan 1, 632
Life of Muhammad
Muhammad was a man whose spiritual visions unified the Arab world with such a speed no one thought was possible. He was born in Mecca to a merchant family and tragically was orphaned at six-years-old. He would grow up to become a caravan manager and then married a rich widow,Khadija, who was also his employer. Muhammad taught the revelations of the Qur'an, or the holy scriptures of Islam. Muhammad died just as Islam was beginning to spread throughout the peninsula. -
Jan 1, 622
Muhammad fled Mecca
Muhammad and some of his cloest supporters (mostly from his own Hashemite clan) left the city and retreated north to the rival city of Yathrib, later renamed Medina, or the "city of the Prophet". -
Jan 1, 630
Muhammad visits the Ka'aba
Muhammad made a very symbolic visit to the Ka'aba, where he declared it a sacred shrine of Islam and ordered the destruction of the idols of the traditional faith. -
Jan 1, 632
Abu Bakr become first caliph after Muhammads death
Some of Muhammad's followers had not agreed with the selection of Abu Bakr as the first caliph and promoted the candidaacy of Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, as an alternative. Ali's claim was ignored by the other leaders, how ever after Abu Bakr's death, the office passed to Umar, another of Muhammad's followers. -
Jan 1, 656
Ali finally becomes one of Muhammad's successors
In 656, Umar's successor, Uthman, was assassinated, and Ali, who fortunatly happened to be in Medina at the time, was finally selected for the position. But according to tradition, Ali's rivals were convinced that he had been implicated in the deathof his predecessor, and a factional struggle broke out within the Muslim leadership. -
Jan 1, 661
Ali is assassinated and Mu'awya replaces him
In 661, Ali himself was assassinated, and Mu'awya, the governor of Syria and one of Ali's chief rivals, replaced him in office. Mu'awya thereupon made the caliphate hereditary in his own family, called the Umayyads, who were a branch of the Quraishi clan. The new caliphate, with its capital at Damascus, remained in power of nearly a century. -
Jan 1, 750
Overthrow of the Abbasid Dynasty
In 750, a revolt led by Abu-al-Abbas, a descendant of Muhammad's uncle, led to overthrow of the Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty in what is now Iraq. -
Period: Jan 1, 750 to Jan 1, 1258
Abbasid Dynasty
The Abbasid caliphs brought political, economic, and cultural change to the world of Islam. While seeking to implant their own version of religious orthodoxy, they tried to break down the distinctions between Arab and non-Arab Muslims. All Muslims were now allowed to hold both civil and military offices, This change helped open Islamic culture to the influences of the occupied civilizations. Many Arabs now began to intermarry with the peoples they had conquered. -
Jan 1, 762
Abbasids build a new capital
In 762, the Abbasids built a new capital city at Bagdad, on the Tigria River far to the east of the Umayyad capital of Damascus. The new capital was strategically positioned to take advantage of river traffic to the Persian Gulf and also lay astride the caravan route from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. The move eastward allowed Persian influence to come to the fore, encouraging a new cultural orientation. -
Jan 1, 1096
Crusades come to Islam
Beginning in 1096 and continuing into the thirtennth century, a series of Christian incursions on Islamic territories, known as the Crusades brought the Holy Land and adjacent areas on the Mediterranean coast from Antioch to the Sinai peninsula under Christian rule. -
Sources of Pictures
Muhammad visits the Ka'aba- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba
Crusades come to Islam- http://www.lordsandladies.org/the-crusades.htm
Abassids build new capital- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2b8_1395539349 Ali finally becomes Muhammad's successor- http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/alī-i
Muhammad fled Mecca- http://chersonandmolschky.com/tag/muslim-conquest-of-the-west/
Abu Bakr- http://questforparadise.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/ali-ibn-talib-and-his-love-for-abu-bakr-farewell-speech/ -
Sources of Pictures 2
Ali is assassinated and Mu'awya replaces him- http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/history/byzantine/constantineiii.htm
Overthrow of the Abbasid Dynasty-http://ramadan.questionsonislam.com/node/11
The Great Mosque of Samarra- http://architecture-worldwide.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html -
The Great Mosque of Samarra
The 9th-century mosque of Samarra, located north of Bagdad in present-day Iraq, was for centuries the largest mosque in the Islamic mosque in the Islamic world. Rising from the center of the city of Samarra, the capital of the Abbasids for over half a century and one of the largest medival cities of its time, the imposing tower is 156 feet in height. Althought the mosque is in ruins today, its spirial tower still signals the presence of Islam across the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
