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Islam
from 610 (first revelation); Hijra to Medina 622· Idea, religion or movement· Middle East & Africa
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A monotheistic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims believe is God's word revealed to Muhammad from 610.
See it on the History map →What happened
Islam means 'submission' to God (Allah, the Arabic word for God). Muslims see it as restoring the faith of Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Its Five Pillars are the declaration of faith, five daily prayers, charity, fasting in Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca. Its calendar starts with the Hijra, Muhammad's move to Medina in 622. Within a century of his death, Islamic rule stretched from Spain to Central Asia. A dispute over succession divided Sunni from Shia.
Why it matters
About 1.9–2 billion people, roughly a quarter of humanity, are Muslim today. Islamic civilization shaped law, science, trade and art from Spain to Indonesia.
How we know
The Quran, standardized around 650; early manuscripts such as the Birmingham folios, carbon-dated to c. 568–645; hadith collections; and early inscriptions and coins.
Still debated
Historians debate how quickly early Islamic law and institutions took final form, though most accept that the Quran's text was fixed early.
Inside this (6)
Connections (7)
▸Islam honors as a prophet Jesus of NazarethWell documented
The connection
The Quran calls Jesus (Isa) a prophet and the Messiah, born of the Virgin Mary, who performed miracles. Islam rejects the idea that he was divine or God's son, and most Muslims believe he was not crucified but raised to heaven, and will return. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran.
When and how
Mecca and Medina, 610–632, in revelations recorded in the Quran, including chapter 19, named for Mary.
How we know
The Quran's text itself, and inscriptions inside Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock (691) addressing Jesus' status.
Debates and open questions
How early Islam encountered Christian ideas, through Arabian, Ethiopian or Syriac Christians, is studied and debated.
▸Prophet Muhammad preached IslamWell documented
The connection
Over about 23 years Muhammad recited what Muslims believe were revelations from God; followers memorized and wrote them down, forming the Quran. His sayings and example, the Sunna, became the second source of Islamic law and practice. He also built the first Muslim community at Medina, with rules for worship, family, trade and war.
When and how
Mecca and Medina, Arabia, 610–632; early followers included his wife Khadija, his cousin Ali and his friend Abu Bakr.
How we know
The Quran, early manuscripts, and later biographies and hadith; Muslim and non-Muslim scholars agree the faith took shape through his preaching and leadership.
Debates and open questions
How the Quran was compiled into one book after his death, under the caliph Uthman around 650, is studied in detail by historians.
▸Islam spread through Islamic caliphatesWell documented
The connection
Islam gave the Arab tribes a shared faith and leadership under Muhammad. After his death, his successors, the caliphs, led them in conquest. The faith spread with the empire but slowly: conquered Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians were mostly not forced to convert, paying a special tax (jizya) instead, and many regions became majority Muslim only centuries later.
When and how
Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Persia from 632; by about 750 the caliphate reached from Spain to Central Asia.
How we know
Arabic chronicles; tax papyri recording the jizya; studies of names in medieval biographical dictionaries that track the pace of conversion.
Debates and open questions
How fast conversion happened is debated; one influential study suggests Muslims became a majority in Iran only after about two centuries, and later still in Egypt and Syria.
▸Islam divided in the Sunni–Shia splitWell documented
The connection
Muhammad died in 632 without a succession plan all accepted. Most followers backed Abu Bakr, chosen by leading companions; the 'party of Ali' (shiat Ali) believed leadership belonged to Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and his descendants. The killing of Ali's son Husayn at Karbala in 680 turned a political dispute into a lasting religious divide.
When and how
Medina, 632; Ali's caliphate and the civil wars of 656–661; the Battle of Karbala in Iraq, October 680.
How we know
Early Arabic histories from both traditions; the yearly Shia mourning of Husayn at Ashura, observed for well over a thousand years.
Debates and open questions
When Sunni and Shia became fully distinct identities is debated; many historians see the line hardening only by the 800s–900s.
▸Islam spread by trade to Mali EmpireWell documented
The connection
Muslim Berber and Arab merchants crossing the Sahara brought Islam to West African trading towns. Rulers converted first, partly because Islam linked them to North African trade, literacy and law. Mali's mansas were Muslim and built mosques and schools, while many farmers kept older beliefs, often blending the two.
When and how
Trading towns along the Sahara's southern edge from the 700s–1000s; Mali's rulers were Muslim by the 1200s–1300s.
How we know
Arabic accounts by al-Bakri, al-Umari and Ibn Battuta, who noted both Muslim practice and older customs at Mali's court; old mosques at Timbuktu and Djenné.
Debates and open questions
When Mali's royal family first converted, and how Muslim the founder Sundiata was, are uncertain; the epics give mixed pictures.
▸Mansa Musa built Timbuktu's great mosque, as patron of IslamWell documented
The connection
After his pilgrimage, Mansa Musa brought back Muslim scholars and the architect al-Sahili from Muslim Spain. Tradition credits him with the Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, built in mud brick around 1327. He funded scholars and books, helping make Timbuktu a center of Islamic learning that thrived for centuries.
When and how
Timbuktu, about 1325–1330, after his return from Mecca; the architect was Abu Ishaq al-Sahili of Granada.
How we know
Ibn Khaldun names al-Sahili as his builder; 1600s Timbuktu chronicles credit the mosque to Musa; the mosque still stands, rebuilt many times.
Debates and open questions
How much of today's mosque dates from Musa's time is unclear; its mud walls are replastered regularly, and it was largely rebuilt in the 1570s.
▸Ottoman Empire became the leading power of IslamMostly agreed
The connection
The Ottomans, a Turkish dynasty from Anatolia, took Constantinople in 1453, then Syria, Egypt and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in 1516–17. Sultans then claimed the title of caliph, leader of Sunni Muslims, and protected the pilgrimage. For four centuries it was the leading Sunni power, until defeat in World War I; Turkey abolished the caliphate in 1924.
When and how
Anatolia, the Balkans and the Middle East, 1453–1924; sultans Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent.
How sure are we?
Ottoman archives and chronicles, coins and inscriptions bearing caliphal titles, and European and Arab accounts.
Debates and open questions
How seriously the caliph title was used before the 1700s is debated; Shia Safavid Persia and Mughal India were rival Muslim powers.