For those of us who are not educated in the history of Islam since the birth of the Prophet (pbuh), may I relate a chronology of events (it is not comprehensive) that stand out in the history of Islam, along with a very simple overview of the present Islamic world perspective.   It does not include the unfolding story of the Holy Qu'ran, nor the personal history of the early Muslims.  These are dealt with in detail elsewhere, as they are of particular importance.

Please bear in mind that some of the statistics quoted here are a little dated and may not be very accurate!

If you have details of events that could be included here, please e-mail them to me

There are 48 nations in the world where Muslims form the undisputed majority of the population. Some Muslim sources include Indian occupied Kashmir and Palestine, so add them to the total.

The total number of Muslims living outside Muslim majority countries is estimated at about 100 million, and the vast majority of these are to be found in Nigeria, the Philippines and the Balkans where the European powers reversed the process of Islamization in the 17th and 18th century, before it was completed.

Some Muslim sources claim that  Nigeria and several other central African nations have Muslim majorities but this is not accepted by the countries concerned. Outside these areas the number of minority Muslims never reaches more than a few per cent and communities are based on immigrant or guest workers, (but including growing numbers of locals) as in Britain, France and Germany.

There are an estimated 1.5 Billion Muslims alive today.  One quarter of the total population of the Earth.  Islam is said to be the fastest growing of all religions.  The truth will out!

(dates are Christian Era)

c570. Birth of the Prophet (pbuh)

622 The Hijrah. The Muslims go into exile in Medina.

622 16th July (?) Muslims sign pledge of Aqaba with chiefs of Medina, declaring jihad on Makkah.  This marked the first year of the Islamic era. (1AH)

630 Muslim army of 10,000 Medinan Arabs and Bedouins led by the Prophet (pbuh) and Abu Bakr take Makkah without bloodshed.

630-32 The Prophet (pbuh) leads military expeditions to Syria.

632 June 8th (?) The Prophet (pbuh) dies.  Abu Bakr elected Caliph by the Ummah, after being appointed by the Prophet (pbuh).

634 Death of Abu Bakr.  Election of Umar as second Caliph.

634-45 'Umar's conquests include Damascus, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Persia and Libya, giving first rise to the belief that Islam is 'spread by the sword.'  This view goes on to be re inforced!

c640 Khariji sect establishes religious courts to decide who amongst the converts is a true believer, and who is not.

644 Death of 'Umar.  Election of  Uthman of the 'Umayyad tribe, as third Caliph.

PART 2.  CIVIL WAR & THE 'UMAYYAD DYNASTY

656 'Uthman assassinated by Kharijis.  Election of Ali ibn Talib (the Prophet's son in law) as fourth Caliph, supported Kharijis.  Civil war between 'Umayyads and supporters of Ali, (the Shiites) Shi'ah, or 'partisans of Ali'.

661 Mu'awiya 'Umayyad becomes fifth Caliph after assassination of Ali. Resumes civil war against Shi'as and Kharijis.  The 'Umayyad dynasty of Caliphs established and rules until 750.

680 Shi'ah revolt peaks with the Battle of Karbala.  Husayn, son of Ali, leads a force of 100 against a much larger force, is slaughtered by the sixth Caliph, Yazid 'Umayyad.  Husayn passes into Shi'ah legend. Reconquest of Makkah by the 'Umayyads, and the dispersal of the Kharijis, to increasingly remote areas.

685-705 Caliphship of Abdul Malik 'Umayyad, who unifies the empire after the civil war, founding a centralized state in Damascus.  Flexible definition of Islamic faith adopted to ease mass conversion and growth of empire. Kharijis persecuted, and effectively extinct after 750.

698 Conquest of Carthage.

711-21  Peak of 'Umayyad power reached under Caliph Walid. Conquest of Kabul (Afghanistan) settlement of Transoxia and the Indus area.  Renewed attacks on Constantinople, conquest of most of Spain, and southern France including Toulouse. The Islamic Empire, now the largest the world has ever known, sets about the conquest of Northern Europe.

732 Death of Zayd ibn Ali, founder of the Bedouin Zaydi Shi'i sect as found in modern Yemen.  'Umayyad armies defeated by Charles Martel (Holy Roman Emperor) at Battle of Poitiers, north west France, loss of Toulouse, retreat to Spain.

732-750 Renewed unsuccessful Shi'i and Khariji rebellions, fuelled by dissatisfaction amongst converts with high taxes needed for continuous wars.

PART 3. THE ABBASID DYNASTY.

750 Army of Persian Islamic converts raised by Abu al-Abbas of Ctesiphon (capital of ancient Babylon) defeats 'Umayyads at Battle of Zab.  Entire leadership of 'Umayyad clan killed to end any further doubts over succession,  except for Abdur Rahman 'Umayyad, who escapes to Spain.  Abu al-Abbas proclaims his own dynasty. (The Abbasids) and renews persecution of Shiites and Kharijis.  Construction of Baghdad

751  Defeat of the Chinese army in Transoxia opens the way for Islamic conversion of Turkic tribes of central Asia.

875  The Samanid clan of Transoxia (Samarkand and Bukhara area) are given Emir status to rule on behalf of the Abbasids.

898  Death of Hakim al-Tirmidi, author of 'The Seal of the Saints'.  (Khatam al-awliya), first Sufi type mystical tract.

c900  Hundred years war with the Jewish Khazars of the Volga Valley. Conversion of the Bulgar Kings of Kazan.  Foundation of Islamic power in Russia.

PART 4. EGYPT, PUNJAB AND THE CRUSADES

912 Abd ar Rahman 'Umayyad becomes Emir of Cordoba, introduces the first rationalist regime in Islamic Spain which becomes a centre of learning.  In the same year the Christian kingdom of Asturia is established in North West Spain by Christian Norman invaders.

962 Ghaznevid clan, Turkic people, settle in Afghanistan and establish autonomous Sultanate within the Islamic Empire.

969 The pro Shiite Fatimid clan conquer most of North Africa in the name of Ali and his wife Fatima,  the daughter of the Holy Prophet (pbuh.)  City of Cairo is founded as Fatimid capital.

c970 Foundation of neo-Khariji Qarmatarian sub sect of the Egyptian Ismaelites in Cairo.

992 Crucifixion in Baghdad of early Sufi thinker al-Hallaj for blasphemous teachings.  Start of Sufi counteraction to al-Ash-ari's Sunni conservatism.

998 Mahmud the Great of the Ghurs, a Turkic tribe originally from Central Asia, converts to Islam and declares himself the semi independent Abbasid Emir of Punjab and Afghanistan at the eastern fringe of the empire.

999 Qarmatarians establish utopian communist state on east coast of Arabia. Crushed by Abbasid military power within five years.

1001 The Ghurs begin a 200 year jihad against the princes of northern India (the Rajputs) culminating in the establishment of the Sultanate of Delhi (founded 1206).

1008-28 Civil war over the succession to the 'Umayyad Emirate of Cordoba. Dissolution of the Emirate into rival smaller states is exploited by Christian forces who begin the 'Reconquista' in earnest.

1021 Al-Hakim, a prince of the pro Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt, is proclaimed the resurrected Isma'il (the repudiator prophet) who will overthrow the Sunni Abbasid rule.  His failure to do so causes the Ismaelites to split into many factions.

1037 Fall of Asturia to Christian Reconquista forces.

1058 Death of Sunni Imam al-Marwardi, recorder of the Sunni statutes of Government. (Al-Akham, al-sultaniya.)

1082 First Islamic communities founded in Java under the rule of the Hindu Kings of Java and Sumatra.  Growing spice trade with Abbasid Empire.

1099 Christian Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem founded by Godfrey of Bouillon.

PART 5. Click here for SUFIS, SALADIN AND THE END OF THE WORLD!