Islam
An editorial selection for comparing processes, events, and lives. The interval and counts describe selected records, not the historical boundaries or importance of the subject.
- Canonical records
- 45
- Events
- 29
- People
- 0
- Processes and periods
- 16
Topics represented
Islam (42) · Religion (42) · Empire and state (20) · Sunni (16) · Chií (8) · Culture (8) · Early Islam (7) · Derecho y educación (6) · Pilgrimage (6) · Conflict (5) · Law & constitutions (3) · South Asian Islam (3)
View distribution by region and period
| Region | Before 3000 BCE | 3000–1 BCE | 1–1499 | 1500–1799 | 1800–1899 | 1900–1999 | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Americas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Asia | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Europe | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Oceania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Global / no specific region | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Records and sources
Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.
c. 610
Beginning of Muhammad’s preachingHistorical syntheses place the beginning of preaching in Mecca around 610; for Muslims, the revelations constitute the Qur’an.
622
Hijra to MedinaMuhammad’s migration with his followers marks year 1 of the Hijri calendar and the establishment of a Muslim community in Medina.
c. 622
Medina agreements and early political communityThe document called the “Constitution of Medina” gathers agreements attributed to Muhammad’s community in Yathrib/Medina. Its transmission and composition require source criticism; it is not treated as a modern constitution or universal rights charter.
624
Battle of BadrAn early conflict between the Medina community and Meccan forces; recorded as history, not as religious proof.
630
Muhammad’s entry into MeccaHistorical tradition dates the conquest of the city to 630; the Kaʿba was rededicated as an Islamic sanctuary.
632
Death of Muhammad and the succession questionHis death opened a question of leadership of major historical and theological importance for later traditions.
632–661
Rashidun caliphateA period associated in Sunni tradition with four “rightly guided” caliphs; its political reach does not imply uniform conversion of conquered societies.
c. 650
Standardization of the muṣḥaf attributed to ʿUthmānIslamic tradition credits the third caliph with promulgating a uniform consonantal skeleton. “c. 650” is not the archaeological date of every surviving manuscript.
656–661
First FitnaCivil war following ʿUthmān’s assassination; the leadership dispute informs later Sunni and Shiʿi memories.
661–750
Umayyad caliphateA Damascus-based dynasty central to early Islamic institutions and artistic expression.
680
Karbala and the death of al-ḤusaynThe Prophet’s grandson’s death is central to Shiʿi memory and devotion; it is not a single origin point for all Shiʿi communities.
691–692
Construction of the Dome of the RockAn Umayyad monument in Jerusalem with early inscriptions: material evidence for public Islamic architecture and epigraphy.
c. 700–c. 900
Formation of fiqh and legal schoolsBetween the eighth and ninth centuries, Qur’anic interpretation, hadith, local practice, and juristic debate contributed to the formation of fiqh disciplines and legal schools. They did not arise as one system or become fixed at once across the Islamic world.
c. 700–c. 1000
Legal consolidation of waqfWaqf gradually consolidated as an endowment institution in diverse Islamic societies, with important doctrinal formulations in Abbasid times. Its roots, aims, and rules varied by school, region, and type of foundation.
711
Beginning of al-AndalusUmayyad rule in Iberia opened a long-lived setting of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish societies, with local and temporal variation.
750
Abbasid RevolutionThe Abbasids replaced the Umayyads and shifted political and cultural focus toward Iraq.
762
Foundation of Abbasid BaghdadBaghdad became a center of intellectual, theological, scientific, and commercial exchange; it does not by itself summarize all Islamic history.
c. 820
Al-Shāfiʿī and legal theoryHis Risāla is a landmark of Islamic legal theory; its date is approximate, based on his death in 820 and textual transmission.
846
Compilation of Ṣaḥīḥ al-BukhārīTraditionally completed in 846 and especially authoritative in Sunni Islam; Shiʿi traditions have their own hadith corpora.
909–1171
Fatimid caliphateAn Ismaʿili Shiʿi caliphate whose history shows Islamic authority was not monolithic.
945–1055
Buyid control of BaghdadAn Iranian dynasty supportive of Shiʿism controlled the weakened Abbasid caliphate while the caliph retained Sunni moral and spiritual authority.
970
Foundation of al-AzharA teaching center founded in Fatimid Cairo; its later history includes a prominent Sunni role.
1055
Seljuq entry into BaghdadThe Seljuqs presented themselves as protectors of the Abbasid caliphate and Sunni Islam, separating military power and caliphal authority.
1099
Crusader capture of JerusalemA religious and political conflict affecting Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities; it is not presented as an inevitable clash of religions.
1187
Saladin retakes JerusalemSaladin’s forces retook the city and Islamic sanctuaries were rededicated; recorded as a situated political and religious change.
c. 1200–c. 1600
Maritime diffusion in Southeast AsiaTrade, local networks, and elite conversions contributed to the spread of Islam; chronologies and routes are multiple.
1206
Consolidation of the Delhi SultanateThe centralization of a sultanate in North India connected new Indo-Islamic elites and institutions; it does not describe the subcontinent’s full religious diversity.
1250–1517
Mamluk SultanateEgypt and Syria became a political, economic, artistic, and religious center, with control of Mecca and Medina during part of the period.
1258
Mongol sack of BaghdadThe assault ended the Baghdad Abbasid caliphate and closed a chapter of Islamic political and intellectual history.
c. 1299–c. 1922
Formation and duration of the Ottoman EmpireA far-reaching empire whose religious history includes Sunni institutions and communities of many faiths; its borders repeatedly changed.