Spreading the Faith: A Chronology

570: The prophet Muhammad is born.

610: Muhammad is visited by an angel who has him recite revelations from God that become the Koran.

622: Muhammad and followers migrate to Medina, establishing an Islamic state; this marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

630: The Prophet returns to Mecca and orders all idols removed from Mecca's holiest site. Eventually all Meccans accept Islam.

632: Muhammad dies, leaving no heirs. The community elects his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, as caliph.

641: Muslims enter Egypt, defeating the Byzantine Army. Islam soon spreads throughout North Africa.

711: Muslims enter Spain and India. All of Iberia would ultimately come under Islamic rule.

750: The Abbasids assume control from Umayyads, moving the Islamic center of power to Baghdad.

1099: Christian Crusaders take Jerusalem from the Muslims, but Muslims later defeat the Christians for control of the Holy Land.

1453: The Ottomans conquer the Christian Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

1918: The end of World War I marks the demise of the Ottoman Empire.

1930: The Nation of Islam, a splinter group, is created in America.

1948: The State of Israel is established. Many Muslims emigrate to the West.

1975: Wallace D. Muhammad brings the Nation of Islam into the mainstream; Islam later attracts many African-Americans.

1979: The Iranian revolution leads to the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the first contemporary Islamic state.

2001: Radical Islamist terrorists attack the United States.