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106-528: According to the traditional view, members of the early Muslim community in Mecca faced persecution, which prompted Muhammad to advise them to seek refuge in Aksum . The earliest extant account is given in the sirah of the eighth-century Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq : When the apostle saw the affliction of his companions , [...] he said to them: "If you were to go to Abyssinia (it would be better for you), for

212-456: A Muslim Agricultural Revolution ) and the arts and sciences (considered a Muslim Scientific Revolution ) also prospered under Abbasid caliphs al-Mansur (ruled 754–775), Harun al-Rashid (ruled 786–809), al-Ma'mun (ruled 809–813) and their immediate successors. Many non-Muslims, such as Christians , Jews and Sabians , contributed to the Islamic civilization in various fields, and

318-528: A contentious matter of debate, which has been extensively discussed both among Muslim scholars and Non-Muslim scholars within the academic field of Islamic studies . Various authors, Islamic activists, and historians of Islam have proposed several understandings of Muhammad's intent and ambitions regarding his religio-political mission in the context of the pre-Islamic Arabian society and the founding of his own religion: Was it in Muhammad's mind to produce

424-590: A court to rival that of Constantinople . He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the edge of Constantinople at one point, though the Byzantines drove him back and he was unable to hold any territory in Anatolia . Sunni Muslims credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post- civil war anarchy. However, Shia Muslims accuse him of instigating the war, weakening the Muslim nation by dividing

530-695: A great portion of the Turkic groups, and several of the princes in India were Shia. The political unity of Islam began to disintegrate. Under the influence of the Abbasid caliphs, independent dynasties appeared in the Muslim world and the caliphs recognized such dynasties as legitimately Muslim. The first was the Tahirids in Khorasan , which was founded during the caliph Al-Ma'mun 's reign. Similar dynasties included

636-545: A justification for the emancipation of science and philosophy from official Ash'ari theology; thus, Averroism has been considered a precursor to modern secularism . Early Middle Ages According to Arab sources in the year 750, Al-Saffah , the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate, launched a massive rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate from the province of Khurasan near Talas. After eliminating

742-509: A number of the proponents of contemporary da'wah activity in the West trace their inspiration to the prophet himself, claiming that he initiated a worldwide missionary program in which they are the most recent participants. [...] Despite the claims of these and other writers, it is difficult to prove that Muhammad intended to found a world-encompassing faith superseding the religions of Christianity and Judaism . His original aim appears to have been

848-583: A passage from the Quran's Surah Maryam ( lit.   ' Chapter of Mary ' ). When the king heard it, he wept and exclaimed: "Verily, this is the word of Jesus (the Injeel ) has come from the same source of light ( miškāt )". However, one of the envoys, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, thought of an alternative tactic. On the following day, he returned to the king and told him that the Muslims had disrespected Jesus. When

954-772: A period. Weakened by the civil wars, the Umayyad lost supremacy at sea, and had to abandon the islands of Rhodes and Crete . Under the rule of Yazid I , some Muslims in Kufa began to think that if Husayn ibn Ali the descendant of Muhammad was their ruler, he would have been more just. He was invited to Kufa but was later betrayed and killed. Imam Husain's son, Imam Ali ibn Husain , was imprisoned along with Husain's sister and other ladies left in Karbala war. Due to opposition by public they were later released and allowed to go to their native place Medina. One Imam after another continued in

1060-495: A second wave went to Medina in 628. The first list of emigrants reported by Ibn Ishaq included the following eleven men and four women: Sa’ad ibn ali azeez History of Islam The history of Islam concerns the political , social , economic , military , and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization . Most historians believe that Islam originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at

1166-450: A short time in 744, before he abdicated. Marwan II ruled from 744 until he was killed in 750. He was the last Umayyad ruler to rule from Damascus. Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdallah heirs. He appointed governors and asserted his authority by force. Anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in Iran and Iraq. The Abbasids had gained much support. Marwan's reign as caliph

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1272-579: A successful military campaign known as the Ridda wars , whose momentum was carried into the lands of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. By the end of the reign of the second caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb , the Arab Muslim armies, whose battle-hardened ranks were now swelled by the defeated rebels and former imperial auxiliary troops, invaded the eastern Byzantine provinces of Syria and Egypt , while

1378-416: A world religion or did his interests lie mainly within the confines of his homeland? Was he solely an Arab nationalist —a political genius intent upon uniting the proliferation of tribal clans under the banner of a new religion—or was his vision a truly international one, encompassing a desire to produce a reformed humanity in the midst of a new world order? These questions are not without significance, for

1484-843: The Banu Qays Arabs against Yemenis and non-Arab Muslims , and Yazid received further support from the Qadariya and Murji'iya (believers in human free will ). Walid was shortly thereafter deposed in a coup . Yazid disbursed funds from the treasury and acceded to the Caliph. He explained that he had rebelled on behalf of the Book of God and the Sunna. Yazid reigned for only six months, while various groups refused allegiance and dissident movements arose, after which he died. Ibrahim ibn al-Walid , named heir apparent by his brother Yazid III, ruled for

1590-589: The Battle of Tours ). In the east, Islamic armies under Muhammad ibn al-Qasim made it as far as the Indus Valley . Under Al-Walid, the caliphate empire stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to India. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf played a crucial role in the organization and selection of military commanders. Al-Walid paid great attention to the expansion of an organized military, building the strongest navy in

1696-746: The Berber Revolt . He was also faced with a revolt by Zayd ibn Ali . Hisham suppressed both revolts. The Abbasids continued to gain power in Khurasan and Iraq. However, they were not strong enough to make a move yet. Some were caught and punished or executed by eastern governors. The Battle of Akroinon , a decisive Byzantine victory, was during the final campaign of the Umayyad dynasty. Hisham died in 743. Al-Walid II saw political intrigue during his reign. Yazid III spoke out against his cousin Walid's "immorality" which included discrimination on behalf of

1802-475: The Byzantine Empire ) also existed. Each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic empire to be in their area. As ʿUthmān became very old, Marwan I , a relative of Muawiyah slipped into the vacuum, becoming his secretary and slowly assuming more control. When ʿUthmān was assassinated in 656 CE, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib , cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, assumed the position of caliph and moved

1908-662: The Caliphate of Córdoba , which lasted until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-Andalus . The Bayt al-mal, the Welfare State then continued under the Abbasids. At its largest extent, the Umayyad dynasty covered more than 5,000,000 square miles (13,000,000 km ) making it one of the largest empires the world had yet seen, and the fifth largest contiguous empire ever. Muawiyah beautified Damascus, and developed

2014-531: The Day of Ashura . Political unrest called the second Muslim civil war (the "Second Fitna") continued, but Muslim rule was extended under Muawiyah I to Rhodes , Crete , Kabul , Bukhara , and Samarkand , and expanded into North Africa . In 664 CE, Arab Muslim armies conquered Kabul , and in 665 CE pushed further into the Maghreb . The Umayyad dynasty (or Ommiads), whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams ,

2120-578: The Fourth Fitna . Al-Ma'mun 's general Tahir ibn Husayn took Baghdad , executing Al-Amin. The war led to a loss of prestige for the dynasty. The Abbasids soon became caught in a three-way rivalry among Coptic Arabs, Indo-Persians , and immigrant Turks. In addition, the cost of running a large empire became too great. The Turks, Egyptians, and Arabs adhered to the Sunnite sect; the Persians,

2226-530: The Maghreb (north-west Africa), the Sahel , the Swahili Coast , Somalia , southern Iberia ( al-Andalus ), Transoxania ( Central Asia ), Hindustan (including modern-day North India , Bangladesh , and Pakistan ), and Anatolia (modern-day Turkey ). It is necessarily an approximation, since rule over some regions was sometimes divided among different centers of power, and authority in larger polities

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2332-658: The Middle Ages . By the early 13th century, the Delhi Sultanate conquered the northern Indian subcontinent , while Turkic dynasties like the Sultanate of Rum and Artuqids conquered much of Anatolia from the Byzantine Empire throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries, destructive Mongol invasions , along with the loss of population due to the Black Death , greatly weakened

2438-473: The Persian Gulf . There was also a yearning for a more "spiritual form of religion", and "the choice of religion increasingly became an individual rather than a collective issue." While some Arabs were reluctant to convert to a foreign faith, those Abrahamic religions provided "the principal intellectual and spiritual reference points", and Jewish and Christian loanwords from Aramaic began to replace

2544-598: The Quraysh had converted to Islam , which prompted them to return to Mecca . Confronted with the opposite reality, they set out for the Aksumite kingdom again in 6  BH (616  CE ) or 7  BH (615  CE ) according to other sources, this time accompanied by other newly-founded Muslims, with the migrant group comprising 83 men and 18 women in total. Some Western historians such as Leone Caetani (1869–1935) and William Montgomery Watt (1909–2006) questioned

2650-642: The Reconquista . Nonetheless, in the early modern period , the gunpowder empires —the Ottomans , Timurids , Mughals , and Safavids —emerged as world powers. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the Muslim world fell under the influence or direct control of the European Great Powers . Some of their efforts to win independence and build modern nation-states over the course of

2756-814: The Samanid Empire . In Persia the Ghaznavids snatched power from the Abbasids. Abbasid influence had been consumed by the Great Seljuq Empire (a Muslim Turkish clan which had migrated into mainland Persia) by 1055. Two other Turkish tribes, the Karahanids and the Seljuks , converted to Islam during the 10th century. Later, they were subdued by the Ottomans, who share the same origin and language. The Seljuks played an important role in

2862-960: The Sasanian Empire , many believers saw a potential danger to the community as they were not the partisans of the Persians who practiced Zoroastrianism and had earlier supported the Jews of Arabia in Himyar . The acceptance of these Muslims into the Kingdom of Aksum at precisely a moment of Persian triumph in the Levant recalls the Aksumite foreign policy of the previous century, which saw Aksum and Persia compete for influence in Arabia . According to historians of Islam , there were two migrations, although there are differences of opinion with regard to

2968-1032: The Umayyad Caliphate extended from Iberian Al-Andalus in the west to the Indus River in the east. Polities such as those ruled by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates (in the Middle East and later in Spain and Southern Italy ), the Fatimids , Seljuks , Ayyubids , and Mamluks were among the most influential powers in the world. Highly Persianized empires built by the Samanids , Ghaznavids , and Ghurids significantly contributed to technological and administrative developments. The Islamic Golden Age gave rise to many centers of culture and science and produced notable polymaths , astronomers , mathematicians , physicians , and philosophers during

3074-527: The Umayyad dynasty . After Muhammad's death, Abū Bakr , one of his closest associates, was chosen as the first caliph ("successor"). Although the office of caliph retained an aura of religious authority, it laid no claim to prophecy. A number of tribal Arab leaders refused to extend the agreements made with Muhammad to Abū Bakr, ceasing payments of the alms levy and in some cases claiming to be prophets in their own right. Abū Bakr asserted his authority in

3180-590: The Ummah , fabricating self-aggrandizing heresies slandering the Prophet 's family and even selling his Muslim critics into slavery in the Byzantine empire. One of Muawiyah's most controversial and enduring legacies was his decision to designate his son Yazid as his successor. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali. In 682, Yazid restored Uqba ibn Nafi as

3286-475: The angel Gabriel , which would later form the Quran . These inspirations urged him to proclaim a strict monotheistic faith , as the final expression of Biblical prophetism earlier codified in the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity; to warn his compatriots of the impending Judgement Day ; and to castigate social injustices of his city. Muhammad's message won over a handful of followers (the ṣaḥāba ) and

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3392-604: The compilation of the Quran was finished some time between 650 and 656 CE, and copies were sent out to the different centers of the expanding Islamic empire. After Muhammad's death, the old tribal differences between the Arabs started to resurface. Following the Roman–Persian wars and the Byzantine-Sasanian wars , deep-rooted differences between Iraq (formerly under the Sasanian Empire ) and Syria (formerly under

3498-677: The divisions of the world theologically would form. These trends would continue into the Fatimid and Ayyubid periods. Politically, the Abbasid Caliphate evolved into an Islamic monarchy ( unitary system of government .) The regional Sultanate and Emirate governors' existence, validity, or legality were acknowledged for unity of the state. In the early Islamic philosophy of the Iberian Umayyads , Averroes presented an argument in The Decisive Treatise , providing

3604-603: The kinship -based society of the Arabs and were perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. Islamic ecumenism , promoted by the Abbasids, refers to the idea of unity of the Ummah in the literal meaning: that there was a single faith. Islamic philosophy developed as the Shariah was codified, and the four Madhabs were established. This era also saw the rise of classical Sufism . Religious achievements included completion of

3710-529: The third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate after Muhammad's death. Prior to the exile, Muhammad chose Uthman ibn Mazʽun , one of his most important companions, as the leader of this group. According to Tabqat Ibn Saʽd , the group boarded a merchant ship from the sea port of Shuʽaiba and paid a half-dinar each to cross into East Africa via the Red Sea . After a year, the exiles heard rumours that

3816-690: The Aksumites had heard of, and that their relatives were asking for their return. The king granted them an audience, but ultimately refused to hand over the migrants until he heard their defence. The Sahaba were later brought in front of the Negus and his bishops. Jaʽfar ibn Abi Talib , who acted as the leader of the exiles, spoke in their defence: O king, we were a wicked and ignorant people who worshipped idols and ate corpses. We committed all types of disgraceful acts and did not pay our due obligations to neighbours and relatives. The strong man of us suppressed

3922-523: The Arab clan of Quraysh , which was the chief tribe of Mecca and a dominant force in western Arabia. To counter the effects of anarchy (particularly raiding for booty between tribes), they upheld the institution of "sacred months" when all violence was forbidden and travel was safe. The polytheistic Kaaba shrine in Mecca and the surrounding area was a popular pilgrimage destination for surrounding Arabs, which

4028-532: The Arabian peninsula entered into various agreements with him, some under terms of alliance, others acknowledging his claims of prophethood and agreeing to follow Islamic practices, including paying the alms levy to his government, which consisted of a number of deputies, an army of believers, and a public treasury. The real intentions of Muhammad regarding the spread of Islam, its political undertone, and his missionary activity ( da'wah ) during his lifetime are

4134-434: The Byzantine Empire and moved on into Carthage and across to the west of North Africa. Muslim armies under Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began to conquer the Iberian Peninsula using North African Berber armies. The Visigoths of the Iberian Peninsula were defeated when the Umayyad conquered Lisbon . The Iberian Peninsula was the farthest extent of Islamic control of Europe (they were stopped at

4240-424: The Byzantine side proved decisive. The Muslims sustained heavy losses. Sulayman died suddenly in 717. Yazid II came to power on the death of Umar II. Yazid fought the Kharijites, with whom Umar had been negotiating, and killed the Kharijite leader Shawdhab. In Yazid's reign, civil wars began in different parts of the empire. Yazid expanded the Caliphate's territory into the Caucasus, before dying in 724. Inheriting

4346-469: The Caliph after the defection of a large contingent of Slavs . The Islamic currency was then made the exclusive currency in the Muslim world. He reformed agriculture and commerce. Abd al-Malik consolidated Muslim rule and extended it, made Arabic the state language, and organized a regular postal service . Al-Walid I began the next stage of Islamic conquests. Under him the early Islamic empire reached its farthest extent. He reconquered parts of Egypt from

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4452-454: The Caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad marked the accession of a new family to power. As the state grew, the state expenses increased. Additionally the Bayt al-mal and the Welfare State expenses to assist the Muslim and the non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled, increased, the Umayyads asked the new converts (mawali) to continue paying the poll tax. The Umayyad rule, with its wealth and luxury also seemed at odds with

4558-407: The Fatimids had conquered Abbasid Egypt, building a capital there in 973 called " al-Qahirah " (meaning "the planet of victory", known today as Cairo ). During its decline, the Abbasid Caliphate disintegrated into minor states and dynasties, such as the Tulunid and the Ghaznavid dynasty . The Ghaznavid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty established by Turkic slave-soldiers from another Islamic empire,

4664-494: The Islamic faith and mosques, separated by doctrine, history, and practice, were pushed to cooperate. The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking the Umayyads' moral character and administration. According to Ira Lapidus , "The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of Marw with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their Mawali ". The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali , who remained outside

4770-460: The Islamic message preached by Muhammad. All this increased discontent. The descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib rallied discontented mawali , poor Arabs, and some Shi'a against the Umayyads and overthrew them with the help of the general Abu Muslim , inaugurating the Abbasid dynasty in 750, which moved the capital to Baghdad . A branch of the Ummayad family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established

4876-402: The Jewish Yahweh and the Christian Jehovah ." In their view, Mecca was originally dedicated to this monotheistic faith that they considered to be the one true religion, established by the patriarch Abraham . According to the traditional account , the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca , an important caravan trading center, around the year 570 CE. His family belonged to

4982-423: The Levant , Egypt , and North Africa . Alongside the growth of the Umayyad Caliphate , the major political development within early Islam in this period was the sectarian split and political divide between Kharijite , Sunnī , and Shīʿa Muslims ; this had its roots in a dispute over the succession for the role of caliph. Sunnīs believed the caliph was elective and any Muslim from the Arab clan of Quraysh ,

5088-562: The Masts in 655 CE, opening up the Mediterranean Sea to Muslim ships. Early Muslim armies stayed in encampments away from cities because ʿUmar feared that they may get attracted to wealth and luxury, moving away from the worship of God, accumulating wealth and establishing dynasties. Staying in these encampments away from the cities also ensured that there was no stress on the local populations which could remain autonomous. Some of these encampments later grew into cities like Basra and Kufa in Iraq and Fustat in Egypt. When ʿUmar

5194-551: The Muslims heard that the king had summoned them again to question them about their view of Jesus, they tried to find a diplomatic answer, but ultimately decided to speak according to the revelation they had received. When the king addressed Jaʽfar, he replied that they held Jesus to be "God's spirit (Rooh Allah, Quran 4:171) everlasting, sinnless (Corinthians 5:21,Sahih bukari vol 4 book 54,Hadith 506, al-kabira, zakkiya (pure)-ghulaman (son) Quran 19:19) omnipresent and omnipotent, and His word (Kalam Allah Quran 3:39) that continues to guide

5300-411: The Sasanids lost their western territories , with the rest of Persia to follow soon afterwards. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb improved the administration of the fledgling Islamic empire, ordering improvement of irrigation networks, and playing a role in foundation of cities like Basra . To be close to the poor, he lived in a simple mud hut without doors and walked the streets every evening. After consulting with

5406-435: The Umayyad era. This tactic was crucial for the expansion to the Iberian Peninsula. His reign is considered to be the apex of Islamic power. Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik was hailed as caliph the day al-Walid died. He appointed Yazid ibn al-Muhallab governor of Mesopotamia . Sulayman ordered the arrest and execution of the family of al-Hajjaj , one of two prominent leaders (the other was Qutayba ibn Muslim ) who had supported

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5512-434: The Umayyad family had been killed by the revolting Abbasids, one family member, Abd ar-Rahman I , escaped to Spain and established an independent caliphate there in 756. In the Maghreb , Harun al-Rashid appointed the Arab Aghlabids as virtually autonomous rulers, although they continued to recognize central authority. Aghlabid rule was short-lived, and they were deposed by the Shiite Fatimid dynasty in 909. By around 960,

5618-448: The account of two migrations. Although Ibn Ishaq provided two partially overlapping lists of migrants, he did not mention that the first group returned and went back a second time. Watt argued that the word used by Ibn Ishaq ( tatāba‘a , transl.  'followed one after another' ) and the order of the names on the lists suggests that the migration may have taken place in a number of smaller groups rather than two large parties, while

5724-417: The appearance of the two lists reflected the controversies surrounding the assignment of priority on official registers during the reign of the second Rashidun caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab . Much of the coverage of this event comes from the historian Ibn Ishaq . When the Quraysh learned that the early Muslims were planning to move to the Aksumite kingdom , they sent a delegation to the Negus to demand

5830-441: The area up to the Ganges river had fallen. In sub-Saharan West Africa, Islam was established just after the year 1000. Muslim rulers were in Kanem starting from sometime between 1081 and 1097, with reports of a Muslim prince at the head of Gao as early as 1009. The Islamic kingdoms associated with Mali reached prominence in the 13th century. The Abbasids developed initiatives aimed at greater Islamic unity. Different sects of

5936-448: The beginning of Islam post-date the events by several generations, al-Tabari having died in 923 CE. Differing views about how to deal with the available sources has led to the development of four different approaches to the history of early Islam. All four methods have some level of support today. Nowadays, the popularity of the different methods employed varies on the scope of the works under consideration. For overview treatments of

6042-430: The caliphate from his brother, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ruled an empire with many problems. He was effective in addressing these problems, and in allowing the Umayyad empire to continue as an entity. His long rule was an effective one, and renewed reforms introduced by Umar II. Under Hisham's rule, regular raids against the Byzantines continued. In North Africa, Kharijite teachings combined with local restlessness to produce

6148-431: The canonical collections of Hadith of Sahih Bukhari and others. Islam recognized to a certain extent the validity of the Abrahamic religions , the Quran identifying Jews , Christians , Zoroastrians , and Sabians (commonly identified with the Mandaeans ) as " people of the book ". Toward the beginning of the high Middle Ages, the doctrines of the Sunni and Shia , two major denominations of Islam , solidified and

6254-474: The capital to Kufa in Iraq. Muawiyah I, the governor of Syria, and Marwan I demanded arrest of the culprits. Marwan I manipulated every one and created conflict, which resulted in the first Muslim civil war (the "First Fitna"). ʿAlī was assassinated by the Kharijites in 661 CE. Six months later, ʿAlī's firstborn son Ḥasan made a peace treaty with Muawiyah I, in the interest of peace. In the Hasan–Muawiya treaty , Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī handed over power to Muawiyah I on

6360-464: The collection of the jizya, or the tax on non-Muslims. Islam nearly doubled within its territory from 8% of residents in 750 to 15% by the end of Al-Mansur's reign. Al-Mahdi , whose name means "Rightly-guided" or "Redeemer", was proclaimed caliph when his father was on his deathbed. Baghdad blossomed during Al-Mahdi's reign, becoming the world's largest city. It attracted immigrants from Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Persia and as far away as India and Spain. Baghdad

6466-440: The condition that he would be just to the people and not establish a dynasty after his death. Muawiyah I subsequently broke the conditions of the agreement and established the Umayyad dynasty , with a capital in Damascus . Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī , by then Muhammad's only surviving grandson, refused to swear allegiance to the Umayyads; he was killed in the Battle of Karbala the same year, in an event still mourned by Shīʿa Muslims on

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6572-465: The dates. The first group of migrants , which comprised twelve men and four women, who fled Arabia in the year 7  BH (615  CE ) or 9  BH (613  CE ) according to other sources, and was granted asylum by Najashi , the Negus of the Kingdom of Aksum , a Christian state that existed in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea . This group included Muhammad's daughter Ruqayyah and his son-in-law Uthman ibn Affan , who would later become

6678-413: The destruction of all pagan idols. By the time Muhammad died c.  11 AH (632 CE), almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam, but disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community during the Rashidun Caliphate . The early Muslim conquests were responsible for the spread of Islam . By the 8th century CE,

6784-482: The earliest periods in Islamic history is made difficult by a lack of sources. For example, the most important historiographical source for the origins of Islam is the work of al-Tabari . While al-Tabari is considered an excellent historian by the standards of his time and place, he made liberal use of mythical, legendary, stereotyped, distorted, and polemical presentations of subject matter—which are however considered to be Islamically acceptable—and his descriptions of

6890-451: The early Islamic empire. Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians , who lived as religious minorities and were forced to pay the jizya tax under the Muslim rule in order to finance the wars with Byzantines and Sasanids, often aided Muslims to take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. As new areas were conquered, they also benefited from free trade with other areas of

6996-431: The elderly. When he felt that a governor or a commander was becoming attracted to wealth or did not meet the required administrative standards, he had him removed from his position. The expansion was partially halted between 638 and 639 CE during the years of great famine and plague in Arabia and the Levant, respectively, but by the end of ʿUmar's reign, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and much of Persia were incorporated into

7102-401: The entire Umayyad family and achieving victory at the Battle of the Zab , Al-Saffah and his forces marched into Damascus and founded a new dynasty. His forces confronted many regional powers and consolidated the realm of the Abbasid Caliphate. In Al-Mansur 's time, Persian scholarship emerged. Many non-Arabs converted to Islam. The Umayyads actively discouraged conversion in order to continue

7208-424: The establishment of a succinctly Arab brand of monotheism , as indicated by his many references to the Qurʾān as an Arab book and by his accommodations to other monotheistic traditions. After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, his community needed to appoint a new leader, giving rise to the title of caliph ( Arabic : خَليفة , romanized :  khalīfa , lit.   'successor'). Thus,

7314-402: The exceptions of Iran and Oman . Muhammad's closest companions ( ṣaḥāba ), the four " rightly-guided " caliphs who succeeded him, continued to expand the Islamic empire to encompass Jerusalem , Ctesiphon , and Damascus , and sending Arab Muslim armies as far as the Sindh region . The early Islamic empire stretched from al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia) to the Punjab region under the reign of

7420-472: The following results: The following timeline can serve as a rough visual guide to the most important polities in the Islamic world prior to World War I . It covers major historical centers of power and culture, including the Arabian peninsula (modern-day Oman , Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates , and Yemen ), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq ), Persia (modern-day Iran ), Levant (modern-day Syria , Lebanon , Jordan , and Israel/Palestine ), Egypt ,

7526-517: The gains of the earlier Caliphates . Initially, they conquered Mediterranean islands including the Balearics and, after, in 827 the Southern Italy . The ruling party had come to power on the wave of dissatisfaction with the Umayyads, cultivated by the Abbasid revolutionary Abu Muslim . Under the Abbasids Islamic civilization flourished. Most notable was the development of Arabic prose and poetry , termed by The Cambridge History of Islam as its " golden age ". Commerce and industry (considered

7632-661: The generation of Imam Husain but they were opposed by the Caliphs of the day as their rivals till Imam Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah came in power as first Caliph of Fatimid in North Africa when Caliphate and Imamate came to same person again after Imam Ali. These Imams were recognized by Shia Islam taking Imam Ali as first Caliph/Imam and the same is institutionalized by the Safavids and many similar institutions named now as Ismaili , Twelver , etc. The period under Muawiya II

7738-458: The governor of Syria after the previous governor died in a plague along with 25,000 other people. To stop the Byzantine harassment from the sea during the Arab–Byzantine wars , in 649 Muawiyah set up a navy, with ships crewed by Monophysite Christians , Egyptian Coptic Christians , and Jacobite Syrian Christians sailors and Muslim troops, which defeated the Byzantine navy at the Battle of

7844-635: The governor of North Africa. Uqba won battles against the Berbers and Byzantines. From there Uqba marched thousands of miles westward towards Tangier , where he reached the Atlantic coast, and then marched eastwards through the Atlas Mountains . With about 300 cavalrymen , he proceeded towards Biskra where he was ambushed by a Berber force under Kaisala. Uqba and all his men died fighting. The Berbers attacked and drove Muslims from north Africa for

7950-409: The great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph, ruled from 661 to 750 CE. Although the Umayyad family came from the city of Mecca , Damascus was the capital. After the death of Abdu'l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr in 666, Muawiyah I consolidated his power. Muawiyah I moved his capital to Damascus from Medina , which led to profound changes in the empire. In the same way, at a later date, the transfer of

8056-575: The growing Islamic empire, where, to encourage commerce, taxes were applied to wealth rather than trade. The Muslims paid zakat on their wealth for the benefit of the poor. Since the Constitution of Medina , drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad , the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws and had their own judges. In 639 CE, ʿUmar appointed Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan as

8162-572: The historical, social, political, economic, and religious context of Late Antiquity in the Middle East . The second half of the 6th century CE saw political disorder in the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula , and communication routes were no longer secure. Religious divisions played an important role in the crisis. Judaism became the dominant religion of the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen after about 380 CE, while Christianity took root in

8268-407: The history of early Islam, the descriptive approach is more popular. For scholars who look at the beginnings of Islam in depth, the source critical and tradition critical methods are more often followed. After the 8th century CE, the quality of sources improves. Those sources which treated earlier times with a large temporal and cultural gap now begin to give accounts which are more contemporaneous,

8374-509: The institution known as the House of Wisdom employed Christian and Persian scholars to both translate works into Arabic and to develop new knowledge. The capital was moved from Damascus to Baghdad , due to the importance placed by the Abbasids upon eastern affairs in Persia and Transoxania . At this time the caliphate showed signs of fracture amid the rise of regional dynasties. Although

8480-459: The king will not tolerate injustice and it is a friendly country, until such time as Allah shall relieve you from your distress." Thereupon his companions went to Abyssinia, being afraid of apostasy and fleeing to God with their religion. This was the first hijra in Islam . Another view, grounded in the political developments of the time, suggests that following the capture of Jerusalem in 614 by

8586-723: The last two centuries continue to reverberate to the present day, as well as fuel conflict-zones in regions such as Palestine , Kashmir , Xinjiang , Chechnya , Central Africa , Bosnia , and Myanmar. The oil boom stabilized the Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (comprising Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates ), making them the world's largest oil producers and exporters, which focus on capitalism , free trade , and tourism . The study of

8692-483: The living and the dead, He cast upon the virgin Mary ". Muslim accounts state that upon hearing these words, the Negus declared that Jesus was indeed no more than what he had said; he turned to the Muslims and told them: "go, for you are safe in my country". He then returned the gifts to the envoys and dismissed them. Many of the exiles in Aksum returned to Mecca in 622 and made the hijra to Medina with Muhammad, while

8798-571: The message of the Quran from the sacred texts of Christianity and Judaism. Armed conflict with the Arab Meccans and Jewish tribes of the Yathrib area soon broke out. After a series of military confrontations and political manoeuvres, Muhammad was able to secure control of Mecca and allegiance of the Quraysh in 629 CE. In the time remaining until his death in 632 CE, tribal chiefs across

8904-409: The old pagan vocabulary of Arabic throughout the peninsula. The Ḥanīf ("renunciates"), a group of monotheists that sought to separate themselves both from the foreign Abrahamic religions and the traditional Arab polytheism , were looking for a new religious worldview to replace the pre-Islamic Arabian religions, focusing on "the all-encompassing father god Allah whom they freely equated with

9010-433: The one God, preparation for the imminent Last Judgement , and charity for the poor and needy. As Muhammad's message began to attract followers (the ṣaḥāba ) he also met with increasing hostility and persecution from Meccan elites . In 622 CE Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (now known as Medina ), where he began to unify the tribes of Arabia under Islam, returning to Mecca to take control in 630 and order

9116-531: The orphan’s heritage, bringing false accusation against others and all other indecent things to that sort. He taught us the Holy Quran , the divine revelation. When we believed in him and acted upon his nice teachings, our people began to persecute us and to subject us to torture. When their cruelties exceeded all bounds, we took shelter in your country by the permission of our prophet. The Christian king requested their revelations from God . Jaʽfar then recited

9222-567: The poor, ʿUmar established the Bayt al-mal , a welfare institution for the Muslim and Non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled. The Bayt al-mal ran for hundreds of years under the Rāshidūn Caliphate in the 7th century CE and continued through the Umayyad period and well into the Abbasid era . ʿUmar also introduced child benefit for the children and pensions for

9328-478: The quality of genre of available historical accounts improves, and new documentary sources—such as official documents, correspondence and poetry—appear. For the time prior to the beginning of Islam—in the 6th century CE—sources are superior as well, if still of mixed quality. In particular, the sources covering the Sasanian realm of influence in the 6th century CE are poor, while the sources for Byzantine areas at

9434-531: The revival of Sunnism when Shi'ism increased its influence. The Seljuk military leader Alp Arslan (1063 – 1072) financially supported sciences and literature and established the Nezamiyeh university in Baghdad. Expansion continued, sometimes by force, sometimes by peaceful proselytising . The first stage in the conquest of India began just before the year 1000. By some 200 (from 1193 to 1209) years later,

9540-519: The start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abrahamic prophets , such as Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses , David , Solomon , and Jesus , with the submission ( Islām ) to the will of God . According to the traditional account , the Islamic prophet Muhammad began receiving what Muslims consider to be divine revelations in 610 CE, calling for submission to

9646-494: The subsequent Islamic empires were known as " caliphates ", and a series of four caliphs governed the early Islamic empire: Abū Bakr (632–634), ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644), ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (644–656), and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661). These leaders are known as the rāshidūn ("rightly-guided") caliphs in Sunnī Islam . They oversaw the initial phase of the early Muslim conquests , advancing through Persia ,

9752-524: The succession of al-Walid's son Yazid, rather than Sulayman. Al-Hajjaj had predeceased al-Walid, so he posed no threat. Qutaibah renounced allegiance to Sulayman, though his troops rejected his appeal to revolt. They killed him and sent his head to Sulayman. Sulayman did not move to Damascus on becoming Caliph, remaining in Ramla . Sulayman sent Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik to attack the Byzantine capital ( siege of Constantinople ). The intervention of Bulgaria on

9858-515: The surrender of the fugitives. They selected two envoys: ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and Abdullah bin Rabiah. The Meccan envoys were given gifts for the Aksumite king Najashi and his generals. The gifts were made up of leather and prepared by fine skin. The Meccans appealed to the generals, arguing that the Muslim migrants were rebels who had invented a new religion, the likes of which neither the Meccans nor

9964-778: The time are of a respectable quality, and complemented by Syriac Christian sources for Syria and Iraq. Until the early 1970s, Non-Muslim scholars of Islamic studies—while not accepting accounts of divine intervention—did accept its origin story in most of its details. On the dates said, historians called Revisionist school of Islamic studies began to use relevant archaeology , epigraphy , numismatics and contemporary non-Arabic literature to crosscheck writings from 150 to 250 years after Muhammad. The school included scholars such as John Wansbrough and his students Andrew Rippin , Norman Calder , G. R. Hawting , Patricia Crone and Michael Cook , as well as Günter Lüling , Yehuda D. Nevo and Christoph Luxenberg . These studies yielded

10070-933: The traditional centers of the Muslim world, stretching from Persia to Egypt, but saw the emergence of the Timurid Renaissance and major economic powers such as the Mali Empire in West Africa and the Bengal Sultanate in South Asia . Following the deportation and enslavement of the Muslim Moors from the Emirate of Sicily and elsewhere in southern Italy , the Islamic Iberia was gradually conquered by Christian forces during

10176-470: The tribe of Muhammad, might serve as one. Shīʿītes, on the other hand, believed the title of caliph should be hereditary in the bloodline of Muhammad , and thus all the caliphs, with the exceptions of Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his firstborn son Ḥasan , were actually illegitimate usurpers . However, the Sunnī sect emerged as triumphant in most regions of the Muslim world , with

10282-521: The weak by power. Then Allah raised a prophet among us whose nobility, righteousness, good character and pure life were well-known to us. He called us to worship only one God , and exerted us to give up idolatry and stone worship. He taught us to speak the truth, to fulfill the promise, to regard the rights of relatives and neighbours. He forbade us from indecency; asked us to offer prayer and pay Zakat ; to shun everything foul and to avoid bloodshed. He forbade adultery, lewdness, telling lies, misappropriating

10388-419: Was a significant source of revenue for the city. Most likely Muhammad was "intimately aware of Jewish belief and practices," and acquainted with the Ḥanīf . Like the Ḥanīf , Muhammad practiced Taḥannuth , spending time in seclusion at mount Hira and "turning away from paganism." When he was about 40 years old, he began receiving at mount Hira' what Muslims regard as divine revelations delivered through

10494-410: Was accepted as an arbitrator among the different communities of the city under the terms of the Constitution of Medina , Muhammad began to lay the foundations of the new Islamic society, with the help of new Quranic verses which provided guidance on matters of law and religious observance. The surahs of this period emphasized his place among the long line of Biblical prophets , but also differentiated

10600-463: Was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together. His death signalled the end of Umayyad rule in the East, and was followed by the massacre of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the talented prince Abd al-Rahman who escaped to the Iberian Peninsula and founded a dynasty there. The Abbasid dynasty rose to power in 750, consolidating

10706-485: Was assassinated in 644 CE, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān , second cousin and twice son-in-law of Muhammad, became the third caliph. As the Arabic language is written without vowels, speakers of different Arabic dialects and other languages recited the Quran with phonetic variations that could alter the meaning of the text. When ʿUthmān became aware of this, he ordered a standard copy of the Quran to be prepared. Begun during his reign,

10812-457: Was home to Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians, in addition to the growing Muslim population. Like his father, Al-Hadi was open to his people and allowed citizens to address him in the palace at Baghdad. He was considered an "enlightened ruler", and continued the policies of his Abbasid predecessors. His short rule was plagued by military conflicts and internal intrigue. The military conflicts subsided as Harun al-Rashid ruled. His reign

10918-588: Was marked by civil wars ( Second Fitna ). This would ease in the reign of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan , a well-educated and capable ruler. Despite the many political problems that impeded his rule, all important records were translated into Arabic. In his reign, a currency for the Muslim world was minted. This led to war with the Byzantine Empire under Justinian II ( Battle of Sebastopolis ) in 692 in Asia Minor . The Byzantines were decisively defeated by

11024-497: Was marked by scientific, cultural and religious prosperity. He established the library Bayt al-Hikma ("House of Wisdom"), and the arts and music flourished during his reign. The Barmakid family played a decisive advisorial role in establishing the Caliphate, but declined during Rashid's rule. Al-Amin received the Caliphate from his father Harun Al-Rashid, but failed to respect the arrangements made for his brothers, leading to

11130-417: Was met with increasing persecution from Meccan notables . In 622 CE, a few years after losing protection with the death of his influential uncle ʾAbū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib , Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (subsequently called Medina ) where he was joined by his followers. Later generations would count this event, known as the hijra , as the start of the Islamic era. In Yathrib, where he

11236-783: Was often distributed among several dynasties. For example, during the later stages of the Abbasid Caliphate , even the capital city of Baghdad was effectively ruled by other dynasties such as the Buyyids and the Seljuks , while the Ottoman Turks commonly delegated executive authority over outlying provinces to local potentates , such as the Deys of Algiers , the Beys of Tunis , and the Mamluks of Iraq . Early Islam arose within

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