Islam: a short history

Beginnings. The Prophet (570-632) ; The Rashidun (632-661) ; The first fitnah

Development. The Umayyads and the second fitnah ; The religious movement ; The last years of the Umayyads (705-750) ; The Abbasids : the high caliphal period (750-935) ; The esoteric movements

Culmination. A new order (935-1258) ; The Crusades ; Expansion ; The Mongols (1220-1500)

Islam triumphant. Imperial Islam (1500-1700) ; The Safavid empire ; The Moghul empire ; The Ottoman empire

Islam agonistes. The arrival of the West (1750-2000) ; What is a modern Muslim state? ; Fundamentalism ; Muslims in a minority ; The way forward

Key figures in the history of Islam.