Islamic history

The timeline — 64 events across 9 eras

The Prophetic Era (570–632 CE / Before Hijri — 11 AH)

• 570 CE — Birth of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Muhammad ibn Abdullah is born in Makkah into the noble tribe of Quraysh, in the family of Banu Hashim.
• 610 CE — First Revelation — The Beginning of Islam. At age 40, during the month of Ramadan, the Angel Jibreel (AS) appears to the Prophet ﷺ in the Cave of Hira on Jabal al-Nour and delivers the first verses of the Quran: "Iqra' bismi rabbika alladhi khalaq" (Read in the name of your Lord who created).
• 615 CE — Migration to Abyssinia (First Hijra). As persecution intensifies in Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ permits a group of Muslims to migrate to Christian Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) under the protection of the just king, Negus Ashama ibn Abjar.
• 621 CE · Before Hijra — Al-Isra wal-Miraj — The Night Journey. In the hardest stretch of the Makkan years — after the deaths of Khadijah (RA) and Abu Talib — the Prophet ﷺ is taken by night from Makkah to al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, and from there through the heavens.
• 622 CE — The Hijra — Migration to Madinah. The Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims migrate to Yathrib (renamed Madinah al-Munawwarah) — the defining event of Islamic civilisation.
• 624 CE · 2 AH — The Battle of Badr. Just over 300 poorly-equipped Muslims face a Quraysh army nearly three times their size at the wells of Badr — and win.
• 625 CE · 3 AH — The Battle of Uhud. A year after Badr, the Muslims meet Quraysh again by Mount Uhud.
• 627 CE — Battle of the Trench (Khandaq). A confederation of 10,000 Arab and Jewish tribes marches on Madinah.
• 628 CE · 6 AH — The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Blocked from performing umrah, the Prophet ﷺ accepts treaty terms at Hudaybiyyah that many companions found humiliating — yet Surah al-Fath opens by calling it "a clear victory" (48:1).
• 630 CE — The Conquest of Makkah (Fath Makkah). The Prophet ﷺ marches on Makkah with 10,000 Muslims — the largest Muslim army to that date.
• 632 CE — The Farewell Pilgrimage & Final Sermon. The Prophet ﷺ performs Hajj for the only time, with 124,000 Companions.

The Rightly-Guided Caliphs (632–661 CE / 11–40 AH)

• 632–634 CE — Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (RA) — 1st Caliph. Abu Bakr becomes the first Caliph through shura (consultation).
• 634–644 CE — Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) — 2nd Caliph. Under Umar (RA), the Islamic state expands into Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and Persia.
• 636 CE · 15 AH — Yarmouk and al-Qadisiyyah. In the space of about a year, Muslim armies defeat the Byzantine empire at the Yarmouk river and the Sasanian empire at al-Qadisiyyah — the two superpowers of the age.
• 638 CE · 17 AH — Umar (RA) receives Jerusalem. Jerusalem surrenders on the condition that the caliph himself accept its keys.
• 644–656 CE — Uthman ibn Affan (RA) — 3rd Caliph. Uthman commissions the standardised Mushaf (written Quran) — distributing authoritative copies to all major cities and burning variant manuscripts to ensure textual unity.
• 650 CE · ~30 AH — Uthman (RA) standardises the mushaf. As Islam spreads among new peoples, Uthman (RA) commissions Zayd ibn Thabit (RA) and a committee to produce a single authoritative copy of the Quran from the compilation made under Abu Bakr (RA), checked against the memory of the companions.
• 656–661 CE — Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) — 4th Caliph. Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet ﷺ, becomes Caliph amid civil conflict (the First Fitna) including the Battle of the Camel and the Battle of Siffin.

The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE / 40–132 AH)

• 661 CE — Muawiyah I — Capital moves to Damascus. Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan establishes the Umayyad dynasty with Damascus as capital.
• 680 CE — The Martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali (RA) — Karbala. Husayn ibn Ali (RA), the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, refuses to give bay'ah (allegiance) to Yazid ibn Muawiyah.
• 691 CE · 72 AH — The Dome of the Rock is completed. Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan completes the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem — the oldest surviving monument of Islamic architecture, its octagon and golden dome crowning the Haram ash-Sharif.
• 705–715 CE · 86–96 AH — Al-Walid I — The Umayyad zenith. Under al-Walid I the caliphate reaches its greatest breadth: Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses into Iberia (711), Muhammad ibn Qasim reaches Sind, and Qutayba ibn Muslim takes Bukhara and Samarkand — one state from the Atlantic to the Indus.
• 711 CE — Islam enters Spain — The Birth of Al-Andalus. Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses the Strait of Gibraltar into the Iberian Peninsula with 7,000 troops.
• 717–720 CE — Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz — The Reforming Caliph. Known by many scholars as the "fifth rightly-guided caliph" for his piety, justice, and reform.
• 750 CE — Fall of the Umayyads — The Abbasid Revolution. The Abbasid Revolution ends Umayyad rule in the east.

Al-Andalus — Islamic Spain (711–1492 CE)

• 756 CE — The Cordoba Emirate — Abd al-Rahman I. Abd al-Rahman I, the only Umayyad prince to escape the Abbasid massacre, establishes the independent Emirate of Cordoba.
• 912–961 CE — Abd al-Rahman III and the Golden Age. Abd al-Rahman III declares himself Caliph of Cordoba, creating the most powerful state in Europe.
• 1031 CE · 422 AH — The Caliphate of Cordoba falls into taifas. After decades of civil war, Cordoba’s caliphate dissolves into dozens of taifa (party) kingdoms — Seville, Granada, Toledo, Zaragoza each under its own dynasty.
• 1085–1212 CE — The Reconquista — Christians Retake Spain. The Christian kingdoms of northern Spain begin the slow Reconquista (reconquest).
• 1126–1198 CE · 520–595 AH — Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and the scholars of al-Andalus. Cordoba's tradition produces Ibn Rushd — jurist, physician, and the commentator on Aristotle whose works, translated into Latin, helped ignite Europe's universities.
• 1492 CE — The Fall of Granada — End of Al-Andalus. The last Muslim king, Muhammad XII (Boabdil), surrenders Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella on 2 January 1492 — the same year Columbus sailed to the Americas.

The Abbasid Caliphate & Golden Age (750–1258 CE / 132–656 AH)

• 751 CE · 133 AH — The Battle of Talas — and paper. On the Talas river, Abbasid and Qarluq forces defeat the Tang Chinese army — the only major battle ever fought between the caliphate and imperial China.
• 762 CE — Baghdad Founded — 'The City of Peace'. Caliph al-Mansur founds Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam) on the banks of the Tigris — a perfectly round city designed by Persian architects.
• 767–855 CE · 150–241 AH — The four imams of fiqh. Within a century, four jurists — Abu Hanifa (d.
• 786–809 CE — Harun al-Rashid & the House of Wisdom. The Abbasid caliphate reaches its cultural peak under Harun al-Rashid and his son al-Ma'mun.
• 800–1100 CE — The Islamic Golden Age — Science and Learning. Muslim scholars lead global advances across every field: al-Khwarizmi invents algebra and gives us the word "algorithm" (from his name); Ibn al-Haytham founds the science of optics with the first scientific experiments; Ibn Sina (Avicenna) writes the Canon of Medicine, the standard European medical textbook for 700 years; al-Biruni measures the Earth's circumference to within 1% of the correct figure..
• 859 CE · 245 AH — Fatima al-Fihri founds al-Qarawiyyin. In Fes, Fatima al-Fihri spends her inheritance building the al-Qarawiyyin mosque, whose teaching circles grow into what UNESCO and Guinness World Records recognise as the world’s oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning — still granting degrees today.
• 870 CE · 256 AH — Imam al-Bukhari completes his Sahih. After some sixteen years of travel and the examination of hundreds of thousands of reports, Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari completes al-Jami as-Sahih — the collection Muslims came to regard as the most rigorously authenticated book after the Quran.
• 969–970 CE · 358–359 AH — Cairo is founded — and al-Azhar. The Fatimids found al-Qahira, "the Victorious", beside old Fustat, and the next year lay the foundations of al-Azhar.
• 1055 CE · 447 AH — The Seljuks enter Baghdad. Tughril Beg’s Seljuk Turks enter Baghdad at the caliph’s invitation, ending Buyid control and beginning the Turkish stewardship of the Sunni heartlands.
• 1258 CE — Mongols Destroy Baghdad. Hulagu Khan's Mongol armies besiege Baghdad for 12 days.
• 1260 CE — Battle of Ain Jalut — The Mongols Are Stopped. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt, led by Baybars and Qutuz, defeats the Mongol army at Ain Jalut (Eye of Goliath) in Palestine — the first significant defeat of the Mongols in history.

The Crusades & Saladin (1095–1291 CE)

• 1071 CE · 463 AH — Manzikert — Anatolia opens. A generation before the First Crusade, the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan defeats and captures the Byzantine emperor Romanos IV at Manzikert — then releases him with terms, an act the chronicles record with note.
• 1095 CE — Pope Urban II Launches the First Crusade. Pope Urban II calls for a campaign to "reclaim" Jerusalem from Muslim rule.
• 1099 CE — Crusaders Capture Jerusalem. The First Crusade captures Jerusalem on 15 July 1099.
• 1187 CE — Saladin Liberates Jerusalem — The Battle of Hattin. Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub defeats the Crusader army at the Battle of Hattin with tactical brilliance — cutting off their water, then setting fire to the grass around them.
• 1291 CE — Fall of Acre — The Crusader Era Ends. The Mamluk army under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil captures Acre — the last major Crusader stronghold.

The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922 CE)

• 1299 CE — Uthman I Founds the Ottoman State. The small Anatolian beylik (principality) of Uthman I (Osman) grows from a border state fighting on the edge of the shrinking Byzantine Empire.
• 1453 CE — Mehmed II Conquers Constantinople. The 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II (Al-Fatih — The Conqueror) fulfils the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: 'Verily you shall conquer Constantinople.
• 1517 CE — Custodians of Makkah and Madinah. Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and becomes the guardian of Makkah, Madinah, and Jerusalem.
• 1520–1566 CE — Suleiman the Magnificent — The Lawgiver. Suleiman I rules the Ottoman Empire at its absolute zenith — expanding to Vienna in the west, Oman in the south, and the Ukraine in the north.
• 1683 CE — The Siege of Vienna — The Tide Turns. The failed Ottoman siege of Vienna, repelled by the Polish-Lithuanian relief army under Jan III Sobieski, marks the beginning of the long Ottoman military and territorial decline in Europe.
• 1924 CE — Collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate. After WWI defeat and the rise of the Turkish Republic under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the last Ottoman caliph Abd al-Majid II is deposed and expelled in 1924.

The Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE)

• 1526 CE — Babur Founds the Mughal Empire. Zahir ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, defeats Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat with innovative artillery tactics — establishing the Mughal dynasty.
• 1556–1605 CE — Akbar the Great — The Pragmatic Emperor. Akbar expands Mughal territory across most of the subcontinent and is the most famous Indian emperor in Western accounts.
• 1628–1658 CE — Shah Jahan and the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan commissions the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.
• 1658–1707 CE — Aurangzeb — The Pious Emperor. Aurangzeb Alamgir rules the Mughal Empire at its greatest territorial extent.
• 1857 CE — The End of the Mughal Empire. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (known as the Great Mutiny or First War of Independence), the British exiled the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II to Burma, where he died in 1862.

The Modern Era (1924 CE — Present)

• 1912–1926 CE · 1330–1345 AH — Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama founded. In the Dutch East Indies — today’s Indonesia — two mass organisations are founded a generation apart: Muhammadiyah (1912) and Nahdlatul Ulama (1926).
• 1924 CE — Abolition of the Caliphate. The Turkish Republic abolishes the Ottoman Caliphate — ending 1,300 years of a formal Islamic political institution.
• 1947–1948 CE — Independence Movements and the Nakba. Pakistan is created as an independent Muslim state in 1947.
• 1969 CE · 1389 AH — The OIC is founded. After an arson attack on al-Aqsa mosque, representatives of Muslim-majority states meet in Rabat and found the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation — today the second-largest intergovernmental body after the UN, with 57 member states across four continents..
• 1979 CE — The Iranian Revolution and the Afghan War. The Iranian Revolution establishes the first modern Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Khomeini.
• Present — Islam Today — 1.9 Billion Muslims. Muslims are the fastest-growing religious group globally — approximately 1.9 billion Muslims make up 24% of the world population across 57 OIC member states.

47 rulers, scientists and scholars

Rulers & statesmen

• Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (RA) (632–634 CE · 11–13 AH) — First Caliph, Madinah.
• Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) (634–644 CE · 13–23 AH) — Second Caliph · al-Faruq, Madinah.
• Uthman ibn Affan (RA) (644–656 CE · 23–35 AH) — Third Caliph · Dhun-Nurayn, Madinah.
• Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) (656–661 CE · 35–40 AH) — Fourth Caliph, Kufa.
• Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (661–680 CE · 41–60 AH) — Founder of the Umayyad Caliphate, Damascus.
• Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (717–720 CE · 99–101 AH) — The Fifth Rightly-Guided Caliph, Damascus.
• Harun al-Rashid (786–809 CE · 170–193 AH) — Fifth Abbasid Caliph, Baghdad.
• Al-Ma’mun (813–833 CE · 198–218 AH) — Patron of the House of Wisdom, Baghdad.
• Abd al-Rahman III (912–961 CE · 300–350 AH) — Caliph of Cordoba, Cordoba.
• Mansa Musa (c. 1312–1337 CE) — Emperor of Mali, Mali, West Africa.
• Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin) (1174–1193 CE · 570–589 AH) — Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Egypt & Syria.
• Mehmed II — al-Fatih (1451–1481 CE · 855–886 AH) — The Conqueror, Constantinople / Istanbul.
• Suleiman I — the Magnificent (1520–1566 CE · 926–974 AH) — Kanuni — the Lawgiver, Istanbul.
• Al-Mansur (754–775 CE · 136–158 AH) — Founder of Baghdad, Baghdad.
• Abd al-Rahman I — ad-Dakhil (756–788 CE · 138–172 AH) — Founder of Umayyad al-Andalus, Cordoba.
• Nur ad-Din Zengi (1146–1174 CE · 541–569 AH) — Unifier of Syria, Aleppo & Damascus.
• Baybars al-Bunduqdari (1260–1277 CE · 658–676 AH) — Mamluk Sultan, Cairo.
• Osman I (c. 1299–1324 CE · 699–724 AH) — Founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Söğüt, Anatolia.
• Askia Muhammad I (1493–1528 CE · 898–935 AH) — Emperor of Songhai, Gao, Songhai (West Africa).
• Babur (1526–1530 CE · 932–937 AH) — Founder of the Mughal empire, Kabul & Agra.
• Shah Jahan (1628–1658 CE · 1037–1068 AH) — Builder of the Taj Mahal, Agra & Delhi.
• Akbar I (1556–1605 CE · 963–1014 AH) — Third Mughal Emperor, Agra & Fatehpur Sikri, India.
• Aurangzeb Alamgir (1658–1707 CE · 1068–1118 AH) — Sixth Mughal Emperor, Delhi & the Deccan, India.

Scientists & scholars

• Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–815 CE) — Chemistry, Kufa & Baghdad.
• Al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850 CE) — Mathematics & astronomy, Baghdad.
• Al-Kindi (c. 801–873 CE) — Philosophy & cryptography, Baghdad.
• Al-Razi (Rhazes) (c. 854–925 CE) — Medicine, Rayy & Baghdad.
• Al-Battani (c. 858–929 CE) — Astronomy, Raqqa, Syria.
• Az-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) (c. 936–1013 CE) — Surgery, Cordoba.
• Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (c. 965–1040 CE) — Optics & scientific method, Basra & Cairo.
• Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) — Polymath — geodesy, astronomy, Indology, Khwarazm & Ghazni.
• Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (980–1037 CE) — Medicine & philosophy, Bukhara & Persia.
• Al-Idrisi (1100–1165 CE) — Geography & cartography, Ceuta & Palermo.
• Ibn Rushd (Averroes) (1126–1198 CE) — Philosophy, law & medicine, Cordoba & Marrakesh.
• Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288 CE) — Medicine, Damascus & Cairo.
• Nasir ad-Din at-Tusi (1201–1274 CE) — Astronomy & mathematics, Maragheh, Persia.
• Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406 CE) — History & sociology, Tunis & Cairo.
• Al-Jazari (1136–1206 CE) — Mechanical engineering, Diyarbakir, Anatolia.
• Hunayn ibn Ishaq (809–873 CE) — Translation & medicine, Baghdad.
• Al-Farabi (c. 872–950 CE) — Philosophy & music theory, Baghdad & Damascus.
• Abd al-Rahman as-Sufi (903–986 CE) — Astronomy, Isfahan & Shiraz.
• Omar Khayyam (1048–1131 CE) — Mathematics & astronomy, Nishapur & Isfahan.
• Al-Ghazali (1058–1111 CE) — Theology & philosophy, Tus & Baghdad.
• Ibn Battuta (1304–1369 CE) — Travel & geography, Tangier — and everywhere.
• Ulugh Beg (1394–1449 CE) — Astronomy, Samarkand.
• Piri Reis (c. 1470–1553 CE) — Cartography & navigation, Gallipoli & Istanbul.
• Fatima al-Fihri (d. c. 880 CE) — Founder of al-Qarawiyyin, Fes, Morocco.

15 lands

Lands of Islamic history

• The Hijaz — Makkah & Madinah (Western Saudi Arabia; The heartland since 610 CE) — The strip of western Arabia holding the two sanctuaries: Makkah, where revelation began and every prayer on Earth points, and Madinah, the Prophet’s ﷺ city, where the first Muslim community and state took shape.
• Greater Syria (ash-Sham) (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine/Israel; Muslim rule from 636 CE) — Damascus was the first imperial capital of Islam; Jerusalem is its third sanctuary. Ash-Sham has been the crossroads — and battleground — of the Muslim world’s relations with Byzantium, the Crusades, and beyond.
• Iraq — Baghdad, Kufa & Basra (Iraq; Muslim rule from 636 CE) — The land of the Abbasid golden age: Baghdad’s House of Wisdom, the garrison cities that became legal schools, and the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.
• Egypt — Cairo & al-Azhar (Egypt; Muslim rule from 641 CE) — From Fustat to Fatimid Cairo to the Mamluk sultanate that stopped the Mongols, Egypt has been the Muslim world’s most populous heartland — and al-Azhar its most famous seat of learning.
• Al-Andalus — Islamic Spain (Spain & Portugal; 711–1492 CE) — Eight centuries of Muslim Iberia: Cordoba’s caliphate, the convivencia of three faiths, and a scientific-philosophical bridge into Europe that helped light the Renaissance.
• Persia — Iran & Khurasan (Iran & Central Asian borderlands; Muslim rule from c. 651 CE) — The Sasanian empire’s lands became Islam’s scientific and literary powerhouse — home of al-Biruni, Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, Rumi’s birthplace region, and later the Safavid state that made Iran Shia.
• Anatolia & the Ottoman Lands (Türkiye & the Balkans; 1071 CE – 1922 CE) — From Manzikert to the six-century Ottoman state: the empire that carried the caliphate last, ruled three continents, and left Istanbul as one of Islam’s great capitals.
• The Maghreb — Morocco to Tunisia (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya; Muslim rule from c. 670 CE) — The far west of Islam: Qayrawan’s early scholarship, Fes and the world’s oldest university, and the Almoravid–Almohad empires that ruled both shores of the strait.
• West Africa — Mali & Timbuktu (Mali, Senegal, Niger, Nigeria & neighbours; Islam from the 11th century) — Empires of gold and manuscripts: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai wove Islam into West African life, and Timbuktu’s libraries became one of the civilisation’s great archives.
• South Asia — Delhi to Bengal (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh; Muslim rule from 711 CE (Sind)) — Home to the largest Muslim population of any region today: the Delhi sultanate, the Mughal empire, and a devotional and intellectual tradition from the Chishti saints to the scholars of Deoband.
• The Malay World — Indonesia & Malaysia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Philippines; Islam from the 13th century) — Islam’s largest nation today grew from traders and teachers, not armies: the harbour sultanates of Sumatra and Malacca, Java’s nine saints, and a maritime civilisation of its own voice.
• Central Asia — Transoxiana (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan & neighbours; Muslim rule from the early 8th century) — Beyond the Oxus lay Bukhara and Samarkand — cities that gave Islam its most cited hadith scholar, its greatest physician, and Timurid architecture whose blue domes define an aesthetic.
• The Swahili Coast (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique coast, Zanzibar; Islam from the 8th–9th century) — A thousand miles of Indian Ocean harbour towns — Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Lamu — where Islam, Bantu Africa, and ocean trade wove a civilisation with its own language and stone-built cities.
• Sicily — the Emirate and after (Sicily, Italy; 827–1091 CE (and the Norman synthesis after)) — Two and a half centuries of Muslim Sicily made Palermo a garden city of mosques and markets — and the Norman court that followed kept Arabic scholarship at its heart, producing al-Idrisi’s great world map.
• Yemen — Arabia Felix (Yemen; Islam from the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime) — Among the first lands to accept Islam — by envoy, not conquest — Yemen gave the ummah renowned scholars, the coffee the world drinks, and cities of tower-houses unlike anywhere else.