Arabs • Muslims

Early Semites [2000]. Semites living in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula became known as Arabs. They moved with their flocks as grazing lands changed [desert nomad culture].
Foreign Political Control [800]. The Semite lands became controlled by outsiders: Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.
*After Sassanids, Ghassanids migrated north from Yemen into Syria Kindites rued north and central Arabia until fall of Himyarites 525
Muhammad [610]. Muhammad considered himself a prophet chosen to revitalize ancient religions, not the founder of a religion [Islam]. He encouraged followers to abandon polytheistic gods, adopt monotheism [Allah], and help the poor.
• Hjira. The rich and polytheists threatened by Muhammad's teachings. He fled with supporters from Mecca to Medina [hjira, 622].
• Kaaba. Muhammad gained converts, returned to Mecca, destroyed images of tribal gods near a cube-shaped building [kaaba], and dedicated the building to Allah [630]. Muslims face toward the kaaba during five daily prayers and walk around the kaaba seven times during a pilgrimage to Mecca [hajj].
• Black Stone. One of the features of the kaaba is a black stone [Al-hajar Al-aswad] that may have fallen from space as a meteorite. Traditions date the stone to the first man and woman [Adam and Eve].
War of the Ridda [630]. Muhammad and his successor [Abu Bakr, the first caliph], conquered and united many Arab tribes [War of the Ridda]. Conflicts between tribes decreased and Arab military strength increased.
War of the Jihad [634]. The Arabs conquered all of Persia, took Syria and Egypt from Byzantium, and defeated the Byzantine navy in less than 20 years [634/655]. They won territory quickly because people disliked the high taxes and the religions imposed by Persia and Byzantium.
• Islamic calendar. The Arab calendar [637] has months based on the moon, a 355 day year, and remains in use today. The Hjira, Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina [July 16, 622], is the first day of the first year of the calendar.
• Qur'an. The Qur'an [652] is the book of faith of the Muslim religion. It consists of a prayer to the God, Allah, followed by messages from Allah who spoke through Muhammad.
• 'People of the Book'. Muslims called Christians, Hebrews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians 'people of the book' because these religions also have a holy book. Muslims permitted 'peoples of the book' to practice their own religion, exempted them from slavery, and allowed them to keep their land as long as they paid taxes. Members of other religions had to convert to Islam or to one of the religions of the book.
Ummayad caliph [656]. The first four caliphs were relatives of Muhammad and Shia. A Sunni, not a relative of Muhammad, claimed power, leading to a battle [657, Siffrin], the assassination of the Shia caliph [Ali], and the first Umayyad caliph [Mu'awiyah]. The Umayyad leader moved his capital to Damascus [661], angering eastern Muslims who wanted an eastern city to be capital.
• Shia and Sunni. The assassination of the Shia caliph and change of leaders caused religious and political differences that remain today. Shias believe that caliphs must be descendants of Muhammad and emphasize the leader's religious role. Sunnis hold that caliphs should be elected and value the caliph's political strength.
Umayyads take northern Africa [669]. The Umayyads attacked Byzantium by land [669] and sea [673/678], but failed to take the city. They expanded west into North Africa [670, Kairouan] and east beyond the previous Persian border [673, Sogdiana]. Arabic became the official language [686].
• Dome of the Rock. Umayyads built the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem on a site important to Muslims, Jews, and Christians [687].
Ummayads expand [701]. The Umayyads defeated the Berbers in North Africa [701] and offered the defeated soldiers the choice of joining the Umayyad army or punishment. The Umayyad army, aided by Berber soldiers, crossed from North Africa [711] and took nearly all of Spain from the Visigoths. Another group of Umayyads expanded into Asia Minor [711/714] and Armenia [717], but again failed to conquer the city of Byzantium [718]. The Umayyads entered France [719], where a military loss ended their expansion [732, Tours]. Even though their expansion stopped, the Muslims controlled three quarters of the Mediterranean coastline. This forced Europe to change its economy from sea trade to farming. Europe's prosperity declined.
• Rock of Gibralter. The Rock of Gibralter, located at the southern tip of Spain, is named 'jabal al-Tariq', 'the mountain of Tariq', in honor of the leader of the Umayyad invasion of Spain [711].
• Sufism. Unhappy with Umayyad wealth and excess, Sufi developed their awareness of the presence of God in their lives by repeating the divine name, meditating and self-denial such as wearing a rough woolen robe [suf]. The spread of Sufism helped introduce the Islamic religion to Africa, India, Malaysia, and China [1100/1200].
• Coffee. The Sufi made a beverage by boiling coffee beans in water. They exported the beans from the port city, Mocha. [Coffee, Anthony Wild, 2005].
Abbasids rebel [732]. The Umayyad's became an unpopular upper class because they did not pay taxes. Dissatisfaction increased when they lost Asia Minor [739] and Syria [745] to Byzantium. Abbasid rebels defeated the Umayyad army [750, Zab] and killed nearly all of its leaders. One escaped and formed an independent Umayyad state in Spain [755]. The Umayyads and Abbasids were both Sunni. The Umayyad culture emphasized Arab traditions. The Abbasids adopted a Persian culture.
• Paper. The Abbasids captured Chinese papermakers [751, Talas] and learned to make paper. Muslims from Spain introduced paper to Europe about 200 years later [925].
Abbasid leader murdered [754]. The leader of the Abbasid rebellion was murdered [754, Abu Muslim]. Shias in North Africa broke away [757, 776, Kharijites]. Khazar attacks led to moving the capital to Bagdhad [762].
• Alchemy. Changing inexpensive metals into silver and gold and finding an elixir of life that cured diseases had been pursued in ancient societies. Alchemists, including Jabir [Gebir] and al-Razi, were not able to change substances into gold, but contributed to the science of chemistry by developing laboratory processes [distillation], identifying substances [alcohol, alkali], and documenting experiments.
Abbasid prosperity [786]. The Abbasids [786/809, Harun al-Rashid] accused Byzantium of breaking a peace treaty, took Asia Minor [806], and obtained new sources of gold and silver. In north Africa Shias broke away [788/985, Idrisids] and Sunnis formed an independent kingdom [800/907, Aghlabids].
Abbasid cultural peak [813]. The brother of a caliph rebelled [813, al-Mamun]. Some of his followers broke away [820, Taharids] when he moved the capital to Bagdhad. He established a 'House of Knowledge' in Baghdad and invited scholars to translate Greek, Persian, and Indian books into Arabic. The central location of the Abbasid caliphate near Byzantium, India, and China enabled Muslims to learn from these societies and reduced opportunities for these civilizations to learn from each other.
• Arabic Numerals. A member of the 'House of Knowledge' [al-Khwarizmi, 820] wrote a book on solving equations [algebra], translated writings from India, and introduced the numbers 0 to 9 and decimal places [8, 88, 888] that arose there. Two hundred years later Italian merchants began to use the numbers 0 to 9 and called them 'Arabic Numerals'.
• Medical Books. Members of the House of Knowledge [Al-Rhazi and Ibn-Sina] wrote books on medicine. They studied diseases because the Muslim religion did not allow them to dissect bodies.
Abbasids move capital [836]. Unrest occurred after the Abbasid leader hired slaves as soldiers. He moved the capital was moved to Samarra [836].
• Mamlukes. Turkic slaves, known as mamlukes, promised life-long obedience to the caliph in return for an education, a good salary, and a position as one of his bodyguards. Because the Abbasids did not maintain a formal army, these bodyguards became powerful. They murdered one caliph [862] and forced others to step down.
Abbasids lose Egypt [863]. Byzantium defeated an Abbasid army [863, Poson] and regained control of Asia Minor and Syria. The Abbasid governor of Egypt, a mamluke, broke away by not paying taxes [866/892, Tulinids] and took part of Syria.
Slaves rebel [869]. Muslims were not permitted to purchase Christians, Hebrews, or Zoroastrians as slaves because they were 'peoples of the book'. Most Abbasid slaves were Slavs from Central Europe or Bantu from the Zandj region of eastern Africa. The African slaves rebelled, held a large region for 13 years, and contributed to the downfall of the Abbasids.
Muslim World [893]. Several other Muslim kingdoms formed after the rebellion [883/920]. This resulted in the end of a single kingdom and the beginning of a 'Muslim World' where religion and culture bond independent states together.
Byzantium takes Asia Minor [928]. Byzantium took Asia Minor [928, 934].
• 'A Thousand and One Nights'. This book [930] tells stories of Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad the Sailor, and Shahrazad. The stories are based on the life and times of a prosperous Abbasid leader who ruled 120 years earlier [Harun al-Rashid, 786/809].
*Spain, North Africa, and Egypt had become independent before the Zandj rebellion [893/920]. The Shia Fatimids who expanded in an effort to replace the Sunni Abbasid caliph of Baghdad.
Buyids lose territory [936]. Shia Buyids took political control at Baghdad [936], but permitted the Sunni Abbasid caliph to maintain a religious role. Byzantium took Crete [961], Cyprus [965], and Syria [969].
Fatimids take Egypt [969]. Shia Fatimids expanded into Egypt [969] and held the Abbasid caliph prisoner in Cairo [976].
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