Timeline for Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message (570-1258)
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ca. 570-632 | Muhammad ("the Prophet" of Islam). |
ca. 610 | Prophetic call and start of Quranic revelations. |
614 | Persian invasion, Jews allowed to controll Jerusalem. |
617 | Persians change policy toward Jews, forbid them from living within three miles of Jerusalem. |
622 | The hijra (emigration) from Mecca to Medina. |
624-627 | Muhammad attacks Jewish Arabian tribes for refusing to convert to Islam. Eventually the Southern Arabian tribes are destroyed. |
626 | While proselytizing Arabia, Muhammad captures the Banu Qurayza tribe and forces the group of about 600 to chose between conversion and death. After spending all night praying, all but three or four Banu Qurayzas are beheaded. |
627-629 | Emperor Heraclius breaks his promise of protection to Jews, massacring any he found and forbidding them from entering Jerusalem. Hundreds of Jews were killed and thousands exhiled to Egypt, ending the Jewish towns in the Galilee and Judea. Heraclius' decree remained in effect until the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem. |
630 | Capitulation of Mecca, rededication of Kaba. |
632 | The Jewish community of Khaibar defends itself against Muslim forces, negotiating a settlement in which half of their crops would go to Mohammed in exchange for peace. Other Jewish tribes, including Banu Qurayza, Banu Nadir and Banu Qaynuqa reached similar deals. |
590-604 | Pope Gregory the Great. |
ca. 600-1300 | Period of the Jewish Rabbinic Geonim. |
632-661 | Muhammad dies, creating the four "rightly guided caliphs" of Islam. |
637 | Muslim forces capture Caesarea, forcing the city's estimated 100,000 Jews to follow the Pact of Omar, which meant they had to pray quietly, not build new synagogues and not prevent Jews from converting to Islam. The Jews were also forbidden from riding horses and holding judicial or civil posts, and were forced to wear a yellow patch for identification. |
638 | Caliph Umar conquers Jerusalem and Jews are permitted to return to the city under Islam. |
661 | Assassination of Ali (last of the four). |
661-750 | Umayyad Dynasty of Islam in Damascus (Syria). |
669, 674 | Muslim Attacks on Christian Constantinople. |
680 | Massacre of Ali's son Husayn and Shiites (Iraq). |
685 | Muslims extend Jerusalem and rebuild walls and roads. |
692 | Dome of the Rock built on site of First and Second Temples by Caliph Abd el-Malik. |
711 | Muslim Forces Attack Spain Successfully. |
715 | Al-Aqsa Mosque built, Jerusalem. |
732 | Islam repulsed at Tours (France), gateway to Europe. |
750 | Abbasid caliphate founded. |
ca. 760 | Karaism founded (Jewish reaction to Rabbinic Judaism). |
762 | Baghdad founded by Abbasids. |
767 | Anan Ben David, organizer of the Karaite sect that only believed in the literal Biblical writings and not the Oral law. |
742-814 | Charlemagne, French Holy Roman Emperor, protected and helped develop Jewish culture in his kingdom, seeing Jews as an asset. |
740-1259 | Jewish Kingdom of Khazar lasts over 500 years, defending itself from the Muslims, Byzantines and Russians, finally subdued by Mongols under Genghis Khan. |
750-1258 | Abbasid Dynasty of Islam in Baghdad (Iraq)—the "golden age" of Islamic culture. |
?-767 | Abu Hanifa (Muslim theologian and jurist in Iraq). |
710-795 | Malik ibn Anas (jurist, collector of hadiths, Medina). |
800 | Caliph Harun al-Rashid rules in "1001 Nights" style. |
ca. 800-950 | Mutazilite rationalism developed and debated. |
807 | Harun Al Rashid, Caliph of the Abbasids forces Baghdad Jews to wear a yellow badge and Christians to wear a blue badge. |
825 | Caliph Mamun sponsors translations of Greek learning into Arabic (Arabic science flourishes). |
814-840 | Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pius, who succeeded his father as king, expanded his father's positive policies towards the Jews, like changing "market day" from Saturday (Shabbat) to Sunday. |
855 | Ibn Hanbal (jurist, collector of hadiths, Baghdad). |
868 | Palestine annexed to Egypt. |
870, 875 | Bukhari and Muslim (collectors of hadiths). |
874 | Shiite "twelvers" arise. |
?-935 | Al-Ashari (ex-Mutazilite Muslim scholar). |
882-942 | Saadia Gaon (Rabbinic Jewish sage). |
942 | Office of the Exilarch was abolished after seven centuries, primarily because of dissention with the Muslims. David ben-Zaccai held the postion. |
922 | Execution of Hallaj, radical Persian Muslim mystic/sufi. |
ca. 950-1150 | “Golden Age” in Spain (Islamic Umayyad dynasty). |
969 | Founding of Cairo (and soon thereafter Azhar University) by the Islamic Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. |
969 | Caliph al-Aziz defeated the Turkish princes at Ramleh, marking the beginning of Fatamid rule over Eretz-Israel. |
972 | Al-Azhar University Founded, Cairo. |
ca. 1000 | Rabbi Gershon of Mainz, Germany, publishes a ban on bigamy. This marks the beginning of Ashkenazi (Franco-German) halachic creativity. |
1001 | Ibn al-Bawwab produces earliest exist Qur'an copy on paper, Baghdad. |
990-1055 | Diplomat and poet, as well as vizier to King Habus of Granada and author of a Biblical Hebrew dictionary, Samuel Ibn Nagrela. |
1008 | Egyptian Caliph Hakkim, who claimed to be divine, pressured all non-Muslims to convert and forced all Jews to wear a "golden calf" around their necks. |
1009 | Oldest existing text of full Hebrew Bible is written. |
1016 | Earthquake causes structrual damage on Temple Mount. |
1021-1069 | Messianic poet and philosopher, Solomon Ibn Gabirol. |
1027 | Samuel Hanagid becomes vizier of Granada. He is the first of the poets of the Golden Age of Spain, and symbolic of both the political power and literary creativity of Jews in Spain at the time. |
1032 | Rebel Abul Kamal Tumin conquered Fez and decimated the Jewish community, killing 6,000 Jews. |
1066 | Final split ("schism") between Latin (Roman) and Greek (Byzantine) Classical Christian Churches: 1053/54 William the Conqueror (Norman) takes England. |
1056 | Abraham Ibn Daud: On Saumuel Ha-Nagid, Vizier of Granada. |
1040-1105 | Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac; Jewish sage): . |
1058-1111 | Ghazali (Persian Muslim scholar and mystic): . |
1065-1173 | Benjamin of Tudela, Jewish traveller and historian, who wrote a famous journal called Sefer Hamassa'ot (Book of Travels). |
1070 | Rashi, a French-Jewish thinker, completes his commentaries on most parts of the Bible. |
1070-1139 | Poet and philiospher Moses Ibn Ezra. |
1071 | Seljuk occupation of Jerusalem. |
1099 | First Crusade Begins rule in Jerusalem. |
1181 | Philip expels Jews from France. |
1187 | Salah al-Din returns Jerusalem to Muslim rule. |
1192 | Philip expands his kingdom and allows Jews to return, for a fee and under strict conditions. |
- 3800 B.CE - 2001 BCE - The Dawn of “History”
- 2000 B.C.E. - 587 BCE - Context of Ancient Israelite Religion
- 538 BCE - 70 CE - Judaism After the Babylonian Exile
- 230 BCE-400 CE - Rule of Rome
- 70 - 500 - Rabbinic Jewish Period of Talmud Development
- 325 - 590 - Consolidation & Dominance of Classical Christianity
- 600 - 1500 - “Medieval” Period in the West
- 570 - 1258 - Reception & Classical Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message
- 1095-1258 - Crusades
- 1258-1500 - Further Transitions and Rebuilding of Political Islam
- 1291-1516 - Mamluk Rule
- 1517-1569 - Reformation and Post-Reformation Christian Period
- 1500-1920 - Dominance of Ottoman Muslim Empire in Turkey
- 1700-1917 - Jewish Modern and Contemporary Periods
- 1914-1918 - Islamic Unrest and Realignment in the Middle East
- 1918-1947 - British Rule in Palestine
- 1947-Present - Modern Israel & the Diaspora
- Timeline for the History of Jerusalem - 4500 B.C.E.-Present