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Timeline for Development of Muhammad's Islamic Message

(570-1258)

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ca. 570-632 Muhammad ("the Prophet" of Islam).
ca. 610 Prophetic call and start of Quranic revelations.
614 Persian invasion, Jews allowed to controll Jerusalem.
617 Persians change policy toward Jews, forbid them from living within three miles of Jerusalem.
622 The hijra (emigration) from Mecca to Medina.
624-627 Muhammad attacks Jewish Arabian tribes for refusing to convert to Islam. Eventually the Southern Arabian tribes are destroyed.
626 While proselytizing Arabia, Muhammad captures the Banu Kurara tribe and forces the group of about 600 to chose between conversion and death. After spending all night praying, all but three or four Banu Kurarans are beheaded.
627-629 Emperor Heraclius breaks his promise of protection to Jews, massacring any he found and forbidding them from entering Jerusalem. Hundreds of Jews were killed and thousands exhiled to Egypt, ending the Jewish towns in the Galilee and Judea. Heraclius' decree remained in effect until the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem.
630 Capitulation of Mecca, rededication of Kaba.
632 The Jewish tribe Kaibar defends itself against Muslim forces, negotiating a settlement in which half of their crops would go to Mohammed in exchange for peace. Other Jewish tribes, including Fadattr, Tedma and Magna reached similar deals.
590-604 Pope Gregory the Great.
ca. 600-1300 Period of the Jewish Rabbinic Geonim.
632-661 Muhammad dies, creating the four "rightly guided caliphs" of Islam.
637 Muslim forces capture Caesarea, forcing the city's estimated 100,000 Jews to follow the Pact of Omar, which meant they had to pray quietly, not build new synagogues and not prevent Jews from converting to Islam. The Jews were also forbidden from riding horses and holding judicial or civil posts, and were forced to wear a yellow patch for identification.
638 Caliph Umar conquers Jerusalem and Jews are permitted to return to the city under Islam.
661 Assassination of Ali (last of the four).
661-750 Umayyad Dynasty of Islam in Damascus (Syria).
669, 674 Muslim Attacks on Christian Constantinople.
680 Massacre of Ali's son Husayn and Shiites (Iraq).
685 Muslims extend Jerusalem and rebuild walls and roads.
692 Dome of the Rock built on site of First and Second Temples by Caliph Abd el-Malik.
711 Muslim Forces Attack Spain Successfully.
715 Al-Aqsa Mosque built, Jerusalem.
732 Islam repulsed at Tours (France), gateway to Europe.
750 Abbasid caliphate founded.
ca. 760 Karaism founded (Jewish reaction to Rabbinic Judaism).
762 Baghdad founded by Abbasids.
767 Anan Ben David, organizer of the Karaite sect that only believed in the literal Biblical writings and not the Oral law.
742-814 Charlemagne, French Holy Roman Emperor, protected and helped develop Jewish culture in his kingdom, seeing Jews as an asset.
740-1259 Jewish Kingdom of Khazar lasts over 500 years, defending itself from the Muslims, Byzantines and Russians, finally subdued by Mongols under Genghis Khan.
750-1258 Abbasid Dynasty of Islam in Baghdad (Iraq)—the "golden age" of Islamic culture.
?-767 Abu Hanifa (Muslim theologian and jurist in Iraq).
710-795 Malik ibn Anas (jurist, collector of hadiths, Medina).
800 Caliph Harun al-Rashid rules in "1001 Nights" style.
ca. 800-950 Mutazilite rationalism developed and debated.
807 Harun Al Rashid, Caliph of the Abbasids forces Baghdad Jews to wear a yellow badge and Christians to wear a blue badge.
825 Caliph Mamun sponsors translations of Greek learning into Arabic (Arabic science flourishes).
814-840 Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pius, who succeeded his father as king, expanded his father's positive policies towards the Jews, like changing "market day" from Saturday (Shabbat) to Sunday.
855 Ibn Hanbal (jurist, collector of hadiths, Baghdad).
868 Palestine annexed to Egypt.
870, 875 Bukhari and Muslim (collectors of hadiths).
874 Shiite "twelvers" arise.
?-935 Al-Ashari (ex-Mutazilite Muslim scholar).
882-942 Saadia Gaon (Rabbinic Jewish sage).
942 Office of the Exilarch was abolished after seven centuries, primarily because of dissention with the Muslims. David ben-Zaccai held the postion.
922 Execution of Hallaj, radical Persian Muslim mystic/sufi.
ca. 950-1150 “Golden Age” in Spain (Islamic Umayyad dynasty).
969 Founding of Cairo (and soon thereafter Azhar University) by the Islamic Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt.
969 Caliph al-Aziz defeated the Turkish princes at Ramleh, marking the beginning of Fatamid rule over Eretz-Israel.
972 Al-Azhar University Founded, Cairo.
ca. 1000 Rabbi Gershon of Mainz, Germany, publishes a ban on bigamy. This marks the beginning of Ashkenazi (Franco-German) halachic creativity.
1001 Ibn al-Bawwab produces earliest exist Qur'an copy on paper, Baghdad.
990-1055 Diplomat and poet, as well as vizier to King Habus of Granada and author of a Biblical Hebrew dictionary, Samuel Ibn Nagrela.
1008 Egyptian Caliph Hakkim, who claimed to be divine, pressured all non-Muslims to convert and forced all Jews to wear a "golden calf" around their necks.
1009 Oldest existing text of full Hebrew Bible is written.
1016 Earthquake causes structrual damage on Temple Mount.
1021-1069 Messianic poet and philosopher, Solomon Ibn Gabirol.
1027 Samuel Hanagid becomes vizier of Granada. He is the first of the poets of the Golden Age of Spain, and symbolic of both the political power and literary creativity of Jews in Spain at the time.
1032 Rebel Abul Kamal Tumin conquered Fez and decimated the Jewish community, killing 6,000 Jews.
1066 Final split ("schism") between Latin (Roman) and Greek (Byzantine) Classical Christian Churches: 1053/54 William the Conqueror (Norman) takes England.
1056 Abraham Ibn Daud: On Saumuel Ha-Nagid, Vizier of Granada.
1040-1105 Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac; Jewish sage): .
1058-1111 Ghazali (Persian Muslim scholar and mystic): .
1065-1173 Benjamin of Tudela, Jewish traveller and historian, who wrote a famous journal called Sefer Hamassa'ot (Book of Travels).
1070 Rashi, a French-Jewish thinker, completes his commentaries on most parts of the Bible.
1070-1139 Poet and philiospher Moses Ibn Ezra.
1071 Seljuk occupation of Jerusalem.
1099 First Crusade Begins rule in Jerusalem.
1181 Philip expels Jews from France.
1187 Salah al-Din returns Jerusalem to Muslim rule.
1192 Philip expands his kingdom and allows Jews to return, for a fee and under strict conditions.

Timeline of Jewish History