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| 765 |
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| Death of the sixth Shi’ite imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, a renowned scholar and theologian who transformed Shi’ism from a mainly political movement into a spiritual one. Ja’far asserted that the Shi’ite imams possessed special knowledge from Ali regarding religious doctrine and were infallible as sources of spiritual wisdom. Ja’far named his eldest son, Isma’il, as his successor, but Isma’il predeceased his father (d. 760). The majority of Shi’ites believe that Ja’far then conferred the title of imam on his third son, Musa. They chose to follow Musa's descendants as far as the twelfth imam, and became known as Twelver, or Imami Shi’ites. Some, however, recognized Isma’il as the seventh imam, and came to be known as Sevener, or Isma’ili Shi’ites. These two branches of Shi’ism varied on matters of doctrine and politics but shared a belief in the return of the imam as a messiah. | 1 |
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| 767 |
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| Death of Abu Hanifa, a leading authority on Islamic law (the shari’a) and founder of the Hanafi law school, one of the four major Sunni legal interpretations. His school spread from Iraq to western Iran and central Asia, and later became the officially preferred legal interpretation followed by the Ottoman Empire. | 2 |
| Islamic law evolved during the 8th and 9th centuries from key roots of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) that included the Qur'an, the example of the Prophet (sunna), analogy (qiyas), and the consensus of the scholarly community (ijma’). The shari’a became a code that dictated most aspects of Muslim life, including prayer, marriage, divorce, inheritance, business, and other civil and criminal legal issues. | 3 |
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| 768 |
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| Death of Muhammad ibn Ishaq, author of the earliest biography of the Prophet Muhammad. His work survived in a later recension by Ibn Hisham (d. 833). | 4 |
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| 775–85 |
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| AL-MAHDI. He created a centralized bureaucracy with divisions (diwans) dedicated to tax collection, correspondence, and the military. The need to coordinate these ministries created the position of chief minister (wazir), which enjoyed great influence. Al-Mahdi tried to pacify Shi’ite hostilities with special gifts and status, but his efforts were unsuccessful. | 5 |
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| 776–89 |
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| Rebellion of the heretic al-Muqanna, “the Veiled Prophet,” in Khurasan. His movement attracted much peasant support by calling on the memory of Abu Muslim. His socioeconomic program stressed the communality of all property and women, and echoed the 6th-century Iranian heretic Mazdak. | 6 |
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| 786–809 |
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| HARUN AL-RASHID, the most famous of all the Abbasid rulers, initially allowed his mother and his prime minister, Yahya of the Barmak family, to run affairs of state. He increased central control of the collection of agricultural taxes (kharaj), the main source of Abbasid revenue, and led several campaigns against the Byzantines in Anatolia. His reign was the last during which the Abbasids governed an empire unifed from Tunisia to central Asia. | 7 |
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| 789 |
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| Death of al-Khayzuran, influential wife of the caliph al-Mahdi and mother of the caliphs al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid. She began her life as a concubine but later became the ruler's favorite legal wife and dominated the harem (harim), the exclusively female area within the palace. The precedent for the seclusion of women was attributed to injunctions first placed on the Prophet's wives in the Qur'an. The harem became a fixture of Islamic urban life. | 8 |
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| 789–926 |
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| THE IDRISID DYNASTY. The first Shi’ite state was also the first attempt to unify much of Morocco. Idris ibn Abdallah (d. 791), a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through Ali, relied on Awraba Berbers for military support. He was recognized as a spiritual and political leader who possessed divine powers (baraka), which he transmitted to his descendants. In 790 Idris captured Tlemcen from the Khariji Zanata Berbers. His son Idris II founded Fez sometime before 808; it soon grew into the chief city of northern Morocco and an important center of religious study. After the death of Idris II (828), the state was divided into a series of principalities governed by family members in western Algeria and Morocco. The Idrisid presence increased the diffusion of Islamic beliefs among the indigenous population during the 9th century. The Fatimids put an end to the dynasty in Morocco. | 9 |
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| 795 |
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| Death of Malik ibn Anas, a prominent jurist and founder of the Maliki school of Islamic law, which flourished in Spain, Egypt, and North Africa. His work al-Muwatta (The Beaten Path) was the earliest collection of the Prophet's word and deed (sunna) as preserved in writing (hadith), and was also the first book of law. In the 8th century, scholars collected these oral sources of prophetic precedent and then wrote and codified them in the 9th century. Hadith served to extend and clarify the Prophet's example on a wide range of critical issues relevant to Islamic law and not contained in the Qur'an. | 10 |
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| 797 |
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| Harun al-Rashid received emissaries from the Emperor Charlemagne (See 800), a fact noted in Latin annals but not in Arabic ones. The European-inspired diplomacy resumed in 807, but did not lead to further contacts. Charlemagne may have hoped to negotiate better Christian access to holy sites in Jerusalem. | 11 |
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| 800–909 |
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| THE AGHLABID DYNASTY, founded by Ibrahim ibn Aghlab, an Abbasid governor of the province of Ifriqiya (present Tunisia and the northeast corner of Algeria). In 800 the Abbasids allowed Ibn Aghlab the right to pass on his position as governor (emir) to his male offspring. The Aghlabids sent tribute to Baghdad and recognized the caliph's authority, but effectively ruled as an independent dynasty until 909. After 800, the Abbasids lost control of all territories west of Egypt. | 12 |
| Ziyadat Allah I (d. 838), one of the most effective rulers, channeled military energies and the religious zeal of Maliki legal scholars into a plan for Mediterranean conquest. He assembled an extensive corsair fleet, which made the Aghlabids a serious naval power and enabled them to invade Sicily (827) and raid Sardinia, Corsica, and southern Italy. | 13 |
| The Aghlabids attempted to create an African slave military, but their efforts to defend themselves against the Fatimids failed, and the Fatimids ended their dynasty in 909. | 14 |
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| 801 |
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| Death of Rabi’a al-Adawiyya, a female mystic (Sufi) and saint who lived a celibate and ascetic life outside of Basra. She is credited with the doctrine of divine love (mahabba) and many miracles. | 15 |
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