A brief history of Islam:
In 610, Mohammed had a vision on Mt. Hira, then fled from Mecca to Medina in 622 (the first year of the Muslim calendar), where he dictated the Qu’ran. In 614-619, Persia conquered Damascus, Jerusalem and Egypt. In 628, Mohammed began Islam’s expansion via forced conversion by capturing Mecca, where he taught five “pillars”: faith, prayer, alms, fasting and pilgrimage. He stressed the oneness of God and claimed to be God’s last and greatest prophet before he died in 632.
In 634, the Muslim caliph Omar I took Syria and Egypt and defeated Bizantine Empire forces. He made Damascus the capital of his caliphate in 635. In 641, Omar captured Persia and suppressed Zoroasterianism. Omar also closed the library and school in Alexandria. In 643, the Muslims took Tripoli and built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. They took Cyprus in 649. In 660, the Omayyad dynasty took over the Caliphate and expanded to the Indus River by 674, while RC Christendom “fiddled” with the Monothelitism controversy (622-680). The Muslims took Armenia in 694 and Algiers in 700, then Spain in 711-716. Constantinople was the second largest city in the world.
In 715, the Muslim Empire extended from the Pyrenees to China, and in 717 tax exemption was granted to all believers. However, Charles Martel of France decisively defeated them in 732, which halted the Islamic advance from the direction of Spain.
Bangladesh did not become Muslim on a single date; rather, Islam arrived in the region starting as early as the 7th and 8th centuries through Arab traders, and gradually grew into the majority religion over several centuries through military conquests.
In 750, the Abbasids won the Muslim Caliphate and defeated China in the Battle of Samarkind in 751, where the Arabs learned how to make paper. In 763, the Caliphate capitol was moved to Baghdad, where Indian numerals became used, and the Arabs experienced a golden scientific age. In 826, the Muslims took Crete and attacked Sardinia and Sicily.
The Muslims sacked Rome in 846. Norsemen attacked Constantinople via the Black Sea in 865 (and again in 904 and 941).
Universities were founded at Cordoba in 968 and at Cairo in 972. Judaism was strongest in Spain.
The Caliphate in Cordoba was abolished in 1031, and the Seljuk Turks gained strength in Turkestan in 1042. In 1054, the schism between RC and what became Eastern Orthodoxy, due mainly to its rejection of the primacy of the Pope, became permanent (“Great”).
The Danes in England were defeated by William of Normandy in 1066 (the year of Halley’s comet). Poland took Kiev in 1067.
The Seljuk Turks conquered Armenia in 1064 and Syria-Palestine in 1075. El Cid took Valencia from the Muslim Moors in 1094, and Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade in 1095, which took Jerusalem from the Seljuks in 1099. In 1113, the order of Knights Hospitalers was organized in order to protect a hospital for pilgrims.
In 1185, the order of Knights Templars was formed for the purpose of protecting pilgrims on the route from Jaffa to the Temple Mount. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople.
In 1258, the Mongols under Kublai Khan capture Baghdad. In 1271, the ninth and final crusade led by Prince Edward of England was defeated by the Mamluks in Egypt.
In 1492, Spain expelled the Jews and conquered Granada, while Columbus sailed to the Bahamas in America.
The next year, the Turks invaded Croatia and encroached upon Italy. The Turks captured Egypt and Arabia in 1517, Belgrade in 1521, and Hungary in 1541 under Sultan Suleiman I.
The Turks continued to expand, taking Moldavia in 1546, part of Persia in 1548, Tripoli in 1551, Cyprus in 1571, Tunis in 1574, and skirmishing with Austria-Hungary in the 1590s.
In 1684, the HRE and Poland formed a league against Turkey, and in 1686 Russia also declared war on Turkey. The Turkish wars continued with Russia in 1711, with Sweden in 1713, and with the HRE Prince Eugene (a military commander for 60 years under three emperors) in 1716-18.
Russia annexed the Crimea from Turkey, which declared war in 1787. Russia forced Turkey to accept the independence of Greece in 1829. Egypt took Syria from Turkey in 1832. Russia and Turkey fought the Crimean War in 1853-56. Turkey fought Serbia, Russia and Greece in 1876-78.
In 1905, Greeks on Crete revolted against the Turks, In 1911, Italy took Tripoli from Turkey. In 1912, the Balkan War began involving Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro. In 1930, Constantinople was renamed Istanbul.
In 1941, Britain fought Rommel in N.Africa, In 1948, the UN partitioned Palestine to form a Jewish state, In 1956, Pakistan became Islamic. In 1958, Egypt and Sudan formed the United Arab Republic.
The rest is modern history, during which Isis and Iran fomented war against Israel and the USA.
