Chronological Timeline - The Origins of Islam
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c. 570 CE
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Birth of Muhammad.
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c. 610 CE
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Muhammad receives first vision in a cave near Mecca.
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c. 610-22
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Muhammad preaches in Mecca.
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622 CE
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Hijira - Muhammad and followers flee to Medina. Islamic calendar (AH, Anno Hegirae) begins.
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624 CE
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Muslims successfully attack Meccan caravans at Badr.
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625
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Muslims are defeated by Meccans at Uhud.
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630
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Muslims capture Mecca. Ka'ba is cleansed, pilgrimage rites are Islamicized, tribes of Arabia vow allegiance to Muhammad
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632
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Death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr chosen as caliph.
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632-33
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Wars of ridda (apostasy) restore allegiance to Islam
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633
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Muslim conquests (Futuhat) begin.
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633-42
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Muslim armies take the Fertile Crescent (Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia), North African coast, parts of Persian and
Byzantine Empires
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c. 650
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Caliph Uthman has the Qur'an written down.
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656
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Uthman is murdered; Ali becomes fourth caliph.
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657
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Battle of Siffin. Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, claims the caliphate.
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659
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Arbitration at Adruh is opposed by Ali's supporters.
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661
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Ali is murdered; Mu'awiya becomes caliph. Beginning of Umayyad Caliphate (661-750).
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680
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Death of Husayn marks beginning of the Shi'at Ali ("party of Ali") or Shi'a sect.
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685-705
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Reign of Abd al-Malik. Centralization of administration - Arabic becomes official written language (instead of Greek and Persian)
and Arab coinage is established.
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late 600s
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Ruling classes in East and West Africa convert to Islam.
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700-800s
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Groups of ascetics and mystics begin to form
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710
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Arab armies enter Spain from North Africa.
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732
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Muslim empire reaches its furthes extent. Battle of Tours prevents further advance northwards.
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747
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Revolt defeats the Umayyads.
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750
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Abu l'Abbas becomes caliph in Iraq
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754
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Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam, "city of peace") becomes the new capital of the Abbasid empire.
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755
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Abd ar-Rahman founds an Umayyad Dynasty in Cordoba, Spain.
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765
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Division within Shi'ites - majority are the modern Imamiyya (Twelvers) who co-exist with Abbasid caliphs; minority are more
extreme Isma'iliyaa (Seveners).
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786-809
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Reign of Harun ar-Rashid, best known through the stories of The Thousand and One Nights.
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800s
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Written collections of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) are compiled. Sicily comes under Muslim rule.
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813-33
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Reign of Ma'mun. Theological controversy over whether the Qur'an is created or uncreated and eternal. Center for translation
of texts from Greek to Arabic founded in Baghdad.
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869-883
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Uprisings of black slaves (Zanj) are eventually defeated.
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908
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First Fatimid caliph in Tunisia.
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928
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Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman III declares himself caliph in Cordoba.
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940
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Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth imam, disappears. Twelver’s still await the future return of the "Hidden Imam."
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945
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The Buyids (Persian) invade Baghdad and take power from caliph.
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969
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Fatimids gain power in Egypt and attack Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. Cairo (Al-Qahira, "the victorious city") is founded.
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980-1037
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Life of Avicenna, Iranian physician and Aristotelian philosopher.
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996-1021
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Reign of Fatimid al-Hakim. Hamza ibn Ali forms basis of esoteric Druze religion.
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late 900s
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West Africa begins to convert to Islam
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1030
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Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba defeated by the Christian Reconquista.
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1055
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Seljuk Turks take Baghdad; Abbasids now only nominal rulers.
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1000s
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Reconquista takes more of Spain, Sicily falls to the Normans, Crusader kingdoms are briefly established in Palestine and Syria.
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1071
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Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert.
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1090
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Hasan-i Sabbah takes Alamut in the Persian mountains, the Assassin sect forms around him.
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1099
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Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem.
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1100-1200s
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Sufi orders (turuq) are founded.
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1126-98
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Life of Averroës, Muslim philosopher from Cordoba who sought to integrate Islam with Greek thought.
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1171
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Fatimid power ends in Egypt with the conquests of Saladin.
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1174
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Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt and Syria.
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1193
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Death of Saladin; most of Crusader states have returned to Islam.
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1200s
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Assassins wipes out by the Mongols. Indian rulers in Delhi take title of Sultan. Spanish mystic Muhyi al-Din ibn al-Arabi
(1165-1240) flourishes.
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1221
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Genghis Khan and the Mongols enter Persia.
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1241
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Mongols take the Punjab.
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1258
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Mongols capture Baghdad; city is sacked and caliph is killed. End of Abbasid caliphate.
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1281-1324
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Reign of Uthman (Osman), who founds the Ottoman Empire. Muslim merchants and missionary Sufis settle in SE Asia.
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mid-1300s
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Ottomans capture Bursa and Iznik and move into Europe.
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1366
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Capital of Ottoman Empire moved from Bursa to Adrianople.
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late 1300s
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Ottomans take control of the Balkans.
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1400s
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Islam reaches the Philippines.
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1453
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Mehmet Fatih (rules 1451-81) conquers Constantinople. The two halves of the Ottoman Empire are united and the sultan
becomes Byzantine emperor.
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1492
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Castile and Aragon capture Granada. All Muslims (and Jews) expelled from Spain.
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1501
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Isma'il (1487-1524) claims to be the Hidden Imam and is proclaimed Shah (king) of Persia. Twelver Shi'ism becomes official
religion of Persia.
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1516
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Ottomans conquer Syria and Egypt.
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1517
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Ottomans control Mecca and Medina.
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1520-66
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Reign of Suleyman the Magnificent; Ottoman Empire reaches its zenith. Hungary and coastlands of Algeria and Tunisia come
under Ottoman rule.
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1526
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Babur (Mongolian) seizes the Delhi sultanate and takes control of northern India.
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1556
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Akbar founds the Mughal dynasty in northern India.
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1600-1700s
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Venetians, Habsburgs, and Russians divide European Ottoman lands between them.
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1625
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Java comes under rule of Muslim kingdom of Mataram.
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1699
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Treaty of Karlowitz confirms first substantial losses of Ottoman Empire in Europe.
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1700s
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Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab rejects Sufism and all innovation (bid'a). Founds what becomes the Saudi Arabian kingdom. Hindus
regain power from Mughals in northern India.
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1738
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Mughal empire invaded by the Afghans.
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1779
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Afghans ousted by Qajar dynasty, which rules Persia until 1925.
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1798
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Napoleon's expedition to Egypt.
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1805
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Muhammad Ali becomes governor of Egypt, which becomes independent of the Ottomans, gains control of western Arabia and
extends into the Sudan.
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1807-76
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Tanzimat period. Ottoman Empire undergoes extensive program of modernization in government, law, and medicine.
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1830
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Greece regains independence from Ottomans.
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1850s
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Non-Muslim Ottoman citizens granted equality with Muslims.
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1858
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Last Mughal in India is deposed and India comes under British rule.
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1876-1908
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Reign of Abd al-Hamid II; autocratic and religiously conservative period in Ottoman rule.
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1878
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Congress of Berlin recognizes independence of Balkan states previously under Muslim rule.
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1882-1952
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Egypt occupied by the British.
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1908-18
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Last decade of Ottoman rule. Rise of nationalistic "Young Turks." More liberal policies develop.
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1912
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Founding of Islamic Union (Sareket Islam), a modernizing movement in SE Asia.
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1918
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Fall of Ottoman Empire. League of Nations grants Britain mandatory status over Palestine and Iraq, and France over Lebanon
and Syria.
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1923
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Republic of Turkey established. Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) is first president.
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1927
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Tablighi Jamaat reform movement founded in India.
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1928
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Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brothers) founded in Egypt.
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1941
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Jamaat-i Islami reform movement founded in Lahore, India.
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1945
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Indonesia becomes independent republic.
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1945-60s
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Islam spreads to the West with mass migrations from Asia, Africa, and India.
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1947
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Pakistan founded as an Islamic nation. Islam becomes a minority religion in India.
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1957
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Independent Malayan state established with Islam as the official religion but guaranteed tolerance.
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1960s
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Familes from SE Asia and North Africa emigrate to Europe and the Americas.
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1979
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Shah of Iran is overthrown by Ayatullah Ruhullah Khumayni, who establishes strict fundamentalist rule of Shi'a principles.
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late 1990s
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Taliban come to power in Afghanistan.
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2001
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Muslim extremists attack the United States.
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2003
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Saddam Hussein ousted by Western forces.
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