1. khalifat rasul allah = “successor to the
Messenger of God” = caliph
the rashidun (rightly-guided caliphs):
Abu Bakr
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab
‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan
‘Ali ibn Abi Talib
followed by:
the Umayyad dynasty (r )

2. Wars of the Ridda
jihad (struggle/holy war)
636 Battle of the Yarmuk
637 Damascus taken

3. 637 Persian army destroyed at
Qadisiyya. Ctesiphon taken.
654 Completion of conquest of
Khurasan
Muslim conquest of Egypt. Fustat
founded.
diwan (register)

4. 644 Death of ‘Umar
655 Muslims defeat Byzantines at sea,
take Cyprus.
656 Death of ‘Uthman. Outbreak of civil
war.
661 Death of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Mu‘awiya
ibn Abi Sufyan founds Umayyad
dynasty, which rules until 750.

5. Merv Bukhara Samarqand
Transoxiana Amu Darya/Oxus
Indus Sind

6. 717-18 Last Muslim attempt to take
Constantinople
Berbers Visigoths
Muslims conquer Spain
732/733 Charles Martel defeats Muslims at
Tours/Poitiers
Caliphate of ‘Umar II (‘Umar ibn
‘Abd al-‘Aziz)

7. Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Jabir ibn Dawud
al-Baladhuri (d. c. 892)
Very little known about him. Spent most
of life in Baghdad, but travelled widely
to study.
Companion of caliph al-Mutawakkil (r )
2 major works: Futuh al-Buldan - history of
Muslim conquests to taking of Iraq/Persia
Ansab al-Ashraf - biographies of important
Muslims

8. Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i (767-820)
Founder of the Shafi‘i school of law
Brought up in Mecca. Studied in Medina under
Malik ibn Anas (d. 795).
Spent time in Yemen, Egypt, Iraq incl.
Baghdad (where worked as a teacher),
Mecca, then back in Egypt (Fustat),
where died.

9. Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i (767-820)
Wrote many legal works, including:
Risala (defense of Prophetic hadith as
first source of law after Qur’an)
Kitab al-Umm (legal teaching on
various subjects)