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| 630–32 |
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| Subjugation of the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. During the last two years of his life, Muhammad expanded his political influence, receiving tribal delegations (wufud) from throughout Arabia. Although many of those tribes paid the alms tax (sadaqa) to Medina, not all of them accepted Muhammad as either a political leader or a prophet. | 1 |
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| 632 |
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| Farewell pilgrimage. Muhammad journeyed from Medina to Mecca on the hajj, the journey since enjoined for all believers. | 2 |
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| 632, June 8 |
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| Death of the Prophet Muhammad. After a short illness the Prophet died in the house of his favorite wife, A'isha. At the time of his death, the Muslim community retained the collective power of a “supertribe,” one forged in faith with an infinite potential for expansion. | 3 |
| It is believed by most Muslims that the Prophet made no provisions for political succession at the time of his death. A committee (shura) of prominent Muslims met to decide who should be the Prophet's political successor (khalifa, or caliph), since no one could follow Muhammad as Prophet. The issues of political succession and authority proved difficult to define and quickly became points of contention within the Islamic community. | 4 |
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| 632–61 |
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| RASHIDUN CALIPHS. The Rashidun (“rightly guided”) caliphs is what the majority of Muslims call the first four successors to the Prophet Muhammad. Each was among the earliest of the Meccan members of the Quraysh to convert to Islam and was regarded by the Prophet as one of his close companions (sahaba). The Rashidun caliphs were all tied to Muhammad through marriage, since each of them had either married a daughter of the Prophet or given his daughter to him in marriage. They maintained the unity of the Prophet's community, oversaw the conquest of the Middle East, and established basic Islamic political and socioeconomic institutions. | 5 |
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| 632–34 |
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| ABU BAKR, THE FIRST CALIPH. Abu Bakr was one of the first Meccans to convert to Islam and was the Prophet's father-in-law. His daughter was the Prophet's favorite wife. On his accession he was faced with rebellion by many Arab tribes that had previously accepted Muhammad's authority. In a series of campaigns known as the Ridda, or wars of apostasy, he succeeded in reconsolidating Arabia under Islamic authority. At his death (Aug. 23, 634), he had also begun the conquest of Syria, the first phase of the Islamic expansion in the Middle East. | 6 |
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| 632–750 |
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| THE ARAB CONQUESTS. In a remarkable wave of conquests, Arab and Muslim troops occupied territories extending from Spain to India. The Sassanian Empire (See 636–651) was brought to an end, and the Byzantines lost most of their possessions in the Middle East and North Africa. The conquered populations came under Muslim rule, although it took several centuries of conversion to Islam to change their religious identity. The majority of the inhabitants of the conquered Byzantine territory in Syria and Egypt remained Christian for centuries, just as the majority of those who lived in territories once controlled by the Sassanians in Iraq and Iran retained their Zoroastrian creed. | 7 |
| The conquests began as an attempt to bring all the Arab tribes of the Middle East under the control of the Islamic polity established at Medina. Their scope expanded with each success. The first expeditions against Syria were organized in Medina under the able direction of the Meccan Quraysh, an elite with great organizational and tactical skills. It is estimated that about 24,000 men were engaged in the conquest of Syria, with fewer still occupied in the later conquest of Iraq. Many of these recruits were prompted not by the new faith of Islam, but by the lure of booty and government stipends (’ata). | 8 |
| The tactics of the Arab armies included surprise and laying siege to the garrisons of opponents ill-prepared for the new invaders. Arab military success was enhanced by the relative weakness of their two major imperial opponents in the Middle East: the Byzantines and Sassanians. Throughout the 6th and 7th centuries these two great powers had fought each other in a series of wars that had left both economically and strategically vulnerable to surprise attacks from the south. Both powers had also persecuted their Monophysite and Nestorian Christian citizens as heretics, thus undermining the support of their people. | 9 |
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| 634–40 |
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| Conquest of Palestine and Syria. After defeating the Byzantines at Ajnadayn in southern Palestine (634), the Arabs advanced into Palestine and Syria. Damascus surrendered in 637, and Jerusalem surrendered shortly after. | 10 |
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| 634–44 |
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| UMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB, THE SECOND CALIPH. Umar directed the first phase of the Islamic conquests in Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. To keep Arab troops separate from newly conquered populations, he ordered the creation of garrison settlements (amsar), which became the foundation of several new Islamic cities, such as Kufa and Basra in Iraq and Fustat in Egypt. Muslims entitled to salaries from the state were recorded on a list (diwan), with the earlier converts enjoying higher pay. Umar established the system of Islamic taxation by which Jews and Christians, as “People of the Book” (Ahl al-kitab), paid a special poll tax (jizya) and a land tax (kharaj), as a form of tribute in return for being allowed to practice their faith. | 11 |
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| 637–38 |
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| Conquest of Iraq. In the battle of Qadisiyya (637), the Muslims vanquished the Persian army in Iraq. Shortly thereafter they occupied the Sassanian imperial capital of Ctesiphon and conquered Iraq as far north as Mosul. | 12 |
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| 639–42 |
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| Conquest of Egypt. The general Amr ibn al-As invaded Egypt and destroyed the Byzantine army at Heliopolis in 641. The capital of Alexandria surrendered in Sept. 642. The Muslims established the garrison city of Fustat (now part of Cairo) as their capital. | 13 |
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| 642–44 |
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| The defeat of the Sassanian counterattack at the Battle of Nihavand (642) began the Muslim conquest of the cities of western Iran, including Isfahan, Hamadan, Rayy, and Qazvin. | 14 |
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| 643 |
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| The North African city of Tripoli conquered by the Muslims. | 15 |
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