1 Chronology of Islam CE (Common Era)/AH (Anno Hegira) [Note: AH dates are often my approximations, hence?] Prehistoric to Iron Age 5300 BCE Ubaid period could have originated in Eastern Arabia. 2600-2000 BCE Umm an-nar Culture Magan is attested as the name of a trading partner of the Sumerians. It is often assumed to have been located in Oman. Archaeological evidence suggests that the biblical Midianites were originally a tribe of nomads that came from NW Saudi Arabia before expanding into Jordan and parts of the Arabah valley in Southern Israel. [2][3] 2000 BCE Sabr culture 1900-1300 BCE Wadi Suq Culture 1300-300 BCE Lizq/Rumaylah = Early Iron Age 10 th c. BCE-3 rd c. CE The A'adids established themselves in South Arabia (modern-day Yemen), settling to the east of the Qahtan tribe. They established the Kingdom of ʿĀd. 2 nd c. CE The ʿĀd nation were known to the Greeks and Egyptians. Claudius
2 Ptolemy's Geographos refers to the place by a Hellenized version of the inhabitants of the capital Ubar. c. 100 BCE-c. 300 CE Samad Period Late Iron Age c.150 BCE-c.325 CE Recent Pre-Islamic Period 570 Birth of the Prophet Muhammad ibn Abd Allah 595 Marriage of Muhammad and Khadijah 602-628 Plague of Justinian and the Byzantine-Sassanid War. The Byzantine Empire was the Greek-speaking Christian Eastern Roman Empire. In Arabic it is referred to as Rum. Its capital was Constantinople. The Sassanids were Persian/Mesopotamian Zoroastrians. In 651 they were conquered by the armies of Islam 610--Revelation of the first verses of the Quran from the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad (Muhammad receives the call to Prophethood). 613 The Prophet s public preaching begins in Mecca 613 Persians defeat the Byzantines in Damascus and Jerusalem 613-615 Emigration of some refugee Muslims in Abyssinia; Muhammad remains in Mecca to preach against polytheism. 617 Embargo of Muslims by the Quraysh
3 619 Deaths of Abu Talib, Muhammad s uncle and protector in Mecca from the Kuraysh,and Khadijah, Muhammad s wife ( Year of Sadness ). 619 The Night Journey: Gabriel takes Muhammad on a journey the Prophet riding a magical white-winged mule named Buraq to Jerusalem, and from the Temple Mount up through the heavens where he leads the other prophets (e.g. Adam, Moses, Jesus) in prayer, sees the splendors of paradise and the torments of hell, and at the boundary of the Furthest Lote Tree, the unencompassable God (or God s light), perhaps through a veil. 621 First Pledge of Aqabah. 12 men from Yathrib (Medina), visiting Mecca for the annual summer pilgrimage to the Ka bah (still a pagan shrine), secretly professed themselves Muslims to Muhammad and went back to make propaganda for him at Medina. 622 Second Pledge of Aqabah. At the pilgrimage in June a representative party of 75 persons from Yathrib (Medina), including two women, professed Islam and took an oath to defend Muhammad as they would their own kin. 622/1 Battle of Issus: the Byzantines led by Emperor Heraclius defeat the Persians (Sassanids) under General Shahrbaraz in Cappadocia during the Byzantine-Sassanid War 602-628. [In the Qur an, in the only reference in the Qur an to political events beyond the Arabian Peninsula, in Surah al-rum (The Byzantines) 30:2-4: The Byzantines have been defeated. In
4 the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome. Within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice. ]. 622/1 The Migration (Hijrah) of the Prophet from Makkah (Mecca) to Yathrib (Medina); the first year of the Islamic calendar (hijri); the Prophet expands his rule; Islam takes the form of a political state. 622-750 Expansion of Caliphate 624/2 Battle of Badr Muslims outnumbered but victorious; serves as symbol for Muslims of divine intervention and guidance. 625/3 Battle of Uhud Muhammad and Muslims defeated by Meccans, who had attacked them. 627/5 Battle of the Trench (Battle of the Confederates), Muhammad and Muslims victorious over Meccans and Bedouin mercenaries; Muhammad consolidates leadership in Medina. 627-628 Byzantines defeat Persians which benefits Muhammad. In the Yemen and in places on the Persian Gulf, minorities that had relied on Persian support against Byzantium now turned to Muhammad instead. 628/6 Treaty of Hudaybiyah permits Muslims to make pilgrimage to Mecca; Capture by Muhammad of Jewish town of Khaybar, in Arabia. 629/8 Conquest of Makkah (Mecca) by Muslims
5 630/8 Battle of Hunayn Part of Muhammad s army was put to flight, but Muhammad and some older Muslims stood firm and the enemy nomads were routed. Muhammad occupies Mecca. Battle of Ta if, home of the tribe of Thaqif, whose goddess was Lat. Muhammad was victorious, the tribe converted enmass to Islam and the idol of Lat was destroyed. 631/9 Tabuk expedition Muhammad s greatest razzia or raid. He led 30,000 men on a month s journey to the Syrian border. He pioneered the invasion of Syria and made agreements that became models for treaty arrangements with captured peoples. The Prophet accepted the submission of Christian Arab tribes living in the town of Ayla on the Gulf of Aqaba. These Christians agreed to pay the jizya tax to Medina in return for protection and in order to practice their own religion. Muhammad s earlier friendship for the Christians, notably those of Ethiopia, changed to hostility. Before his death, armed opposition appeared in a few parts of Arabia, but the Islamic state was by now strong enough to deal with it. 632/10 Farewell Pilgrimage to Mecca 632/11 Death of the Prophet; Abu Bakr becomes the first caliph (the beginning of the period of the Rightfully Guided Caliphs 632-661 Rashidun Caliphate; Reign of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs normative period for Sunni Islam.
6 632/11 Abu Bakr appoints Zayd ibn Thabit to compile the Suhuf (folios) of the Quran 634/13? Death of Caliph Abu Bakr; Umar ibn al-khattab becomes second Caliph. 636/14? Muslim army defeats Byzantines at the Battle of Yarmuk. 638 Muslims occupy Jerusalem. 644/23 Umar entrusts the Suhuf (folios of one of the earliest written collections of Qur anic verses) to Hafsah (a wife of Muhammad and daughter of second Caliph Umar ibn al- Khattab). 644/23? Umar, second caliph, stabbed and dies a week after appointing a committee to select a successor, setting a precedent for the orderly transfer of the caliphate; Uthman ibn Affan becomes third caliph; the Qur an is collected and put into final codex form during his rule. 646-51/25-30? [Accounts vary, this is a range of years] Uthman orders the compiling of the Mushaf (codex) from the Suhuf (folios). 651 Muslims conquer Sassanids. 656/35 Uthman assassinated; Ali ibn Abi Talib becomes 4 th caliph. 656-661 Aisha (613-678), wife of Muhammad and daughter of 1 st Caliph Abu Bakr, leads Muslim opposition forces against the
7 4 th Caliph Ali. Ali is victorious; Aisha forced to retire to private life in Medina. First instance of Muslim caliph involved in military action against other Muslims. 661/40? Assassination of Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, seen as the rightful leader by Shiite Muslims, fourth caliph and figurehead of the Shi ite movement. 661-750/ 40-129? Umayyad dynasty; Arab aristocracy. Muawiyya ibn Abi Sufya;n (c-.605-680/-59) is the founder of the Umayyad dynasty. A Companion of the Prophet, he used the occasion of the conflict following the death of the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, to oppose his successor, Ali ibn Abi Talib. After Ali s assassination, he seized control of the young Muslim state and initiated a period of both autocratic rule and territorial expansion, in the process creating an Arab military aristocracy 670/49? Muslim conquest of northwest Africa 680-92/59-71? Second Muslim civil war (first was led by Aisha against Ali in 656). Ali s son, Hussein [Husayn], leads rebellion against the Umayyad caliph Yazid and is martyred, creating paradigm of protest and suffering for Shiites. 691/70? Caliph Abd al-malik completes Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem 704/83? Birth of Ibn Ishaq, whose book, in a recension by Ibn Hisham, became one of the most important sources on Muhammad s life
8 705-715 Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus built. 711/90? Berbers convert to Islam and cross the Straits of Girbraltar. Islam expands into Europe through southern Iberia 732/111? Muslims are defeated at the Battle of Tours by Charles Martel, France halting further Islam s expansion into Europe. 737-819 Hisham ibn Al-Kalbi, scholar/author of The (Kitāb al-așnām) 744-750/123-129 Book of Idols? Third Muslim civil war and defeat of the Umayyads by the Abbasids. 749/128? Beginning of Abbasid caliphate 750-850/123-223? Consolidation of Abbasid Muslim empire in Iraq, western Iran, Khurasan, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria by Caliphs al-mahdi, Harun al-rashid and al-manum. 750-1258/123-631? Glory of Abbasid rule and Islamic civilization. This period saw the flourishing of the arts, literature, culture, science, trade and industry. Notable rulers are Harun al-rashid (caliph of 1,001 Arabian Nights) and al- Mamun. 754/127? Caliphate of Mansur 767/140? Death of Abu Hanifa, founder of the Hanifi school of law. The Sunni creed, al-fiqh al-akbar or The Great Fiqh, which defines God s unity, is attributed to him. 786-809/159-182? Caliphate of Harun al-rashid
9 795/168? Death of Malik ibn Anas, founder of themaliki school of law, compiler of one of the most authoritative books of Maliki law, al-muwatta or trodden path, an early collection of hadith. 800-825 Kitab al-jabr wal-muqabala (The [first] book of algebra, literally, the book of compulsion and comparison), by al-khwarizimi, the first work to consider algebraic expressions irrespective of what they may represent. Its objective to provide a theory for the solution of all types of linear and quadratic equations by radicals, without restricting the solution to any one particular problem. All geometric or arithmetic problems were reduced, through algebraic operations, to normal equaitons with standard solutions. 813-833/186-206? Caliphate of al-ma mun 820/193? Death of Muhammad al-shafi I, founder of Shafi school of law; author of Risala (The Treatise), which laid down the principles of Muslim jurisprudence. 836/209? Caliph al-mu tasim relocates capital from Baghdad to Samarra 855/228? Death of Ahmed ibn Hanbal, founder of the Hanbali school of law. Hanbalism was revived in Saudi Arabia through the Wahhabi movement and has remained the dominant school of though in the country.
10 810-870/183-243? Muhammad Bukhari (al-bukhari) compiled the Sahih, regarded by many as the most famous and authentic collection of hadith. 838-923/211-296? Muhammad ibn Jarir al Tabari, considered one of the most prominent Muslim historians and exegetes of the Quran. His famous works include The History of the Prophets and Kings. 874/247?--Twelfth Shiite Imam goes into occultation or hiding 874-935/247-308? The Muslim theologian al-ashari becomes the founder of orthodox Sunni kalam. 1058-1111/346-399? The period of one of the most celebrated Muslim theologians and philosophers, al-ghazali. Two of his most famous works are The Revival of Religious Sciences and The Alchemy of Happiness. 1143/431? First translation of the Quran into Latin.