History

Ibrahim - the Muslim view of Abraham

Abraham is seen as the father of the Arab people as well as the Jewish people. Muslims call him Ibrahim.

Musa - the Muslim view of Moses

Moses is an important prophet in the Muslim faith as well as in Judaism and Christianity. Muslims call him Musa.

Prophet Muhammad (570-632)

Muslims believe that the final and complete revelation of their faith was made through the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. Muhammad was a devout and spiritual man born in Mecca in 570.

Aisha - the second wife of Prophet Muhammad (audio)

Shazia Khan reports on what is actually known about the second wife of the Prophet and the significance she has within Islam. (Realmedia - 5:50)

Early rise of Islam (632-700)

The Muslim community spread through the Middle East through conquest, and the resulting growth of the Muslim state provided the ground in which the recently revealed faith could take root and flourish.

Islam in China (650-present)

Muslims in China have managed to practise their faith in China, sometimes against great odds, since the seventh century. Islam is one of the religions that is still officially recognised in China.

Muslim Spain (711-1492)

Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of Muslims, Christians and Jews. It brought a degree of civilisation to Europe that matched the heights of the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance.

Abbasid Empire (750-1258) (from BBC Radio 4)

The Abbasid Caliphs were the dynastic rulers of the Islamic world between the middle of the eighth and the tenth centuries.

Ottoman Empire (1301-1922)

The Ottoman Empire was an empire inspired and sustained by Islam. The Empire emerged in 1301, was at its height under Suleiman the Magnificent in 1520-66 and began its decline in 1571. It ended in 1922.

Mughal Empire (1500s, 1600s)

The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was responsible for great works of architecture, notably the Taj Mahal, and the development of Urdu as a language.

Safavid Empire (1501-1722)

This Islamic empire was based in what is today Iran. It lasted from 1501 to 1722 and was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east.

Islam in the UK (1500s-present)

The first large group of Muslims in Britain arrived about 300 years ago. Today Britain's Muslims are almost all people who immigrated to Britain in the 1950s-70s, or their descendants.

Slavery in Islam

Many societies throughout history have practiced slavery, and Muslim societies were no exception. It's thought that as many people were enslaved in the Eastern slave trade as in the Atlantic slave trade.