Time

Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days.  

He created Adam from clay.  

He created angels from light and jinn from from smokeless fire.
 

The angels and jinn were ordered to prostrate themselves before Adam, but Iblis (can also be known as Shaytan*) refused because he believed himself better than Adam since he was created from fire and not clay.
 

Thus Allah declared Iblis an enemy of Adam and his wife, and ordered him to leave paradise and go down to the earth for a time but not before he tempts Adam and his wife to disobey Allah by eating from the tree of eternity and possession.
 

Allah sent Adam and his wife to earth to enjoy life there for a time. 

Iblis promised Allah to lie in wait for mankind to avert them from the ways of Allah.
 

Allah tells man not to give in to Iblis’ temptations, obey the Quran and do righteous deeds so that he will not go astray in the world nor suffer in the hereafter. 

But those who do not, will have a depressed life on earth as well as go to Hell on the Day of Judgment with Iblis for eternity. 

*More is discussed on the difference between Iblis and Shaytan in the section on the Articles of Faith.

Information taken from the Quran.

There are three main versions to this but the most widely accepted is that Abraham had two sons: 

The first son was Ishmael born to Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s servant.

The second son was Isaac born to Abraham by his wife, Sarah.

Allah asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, but provided a sacrificial animal in his place.

From Genesis 16:10-12, 17:20 and 25:16 we see that Ishmael became the firstborn of the Arabs. 

There were twelve princes of Islam who were the sons of Ishmael.  These princes came to be the main Arab nations.  The Holy Book (Bible) also says they will be in continual opposition to their brothers.

Islam teaches that its founder, Mohammed (PBUH), came from Ishmael’s line.

Mohammed (PBUH) was a trader in Mecca, a trading capital in the old world that was full of idols and false gods.  

Jew and Christian traders alike passed through Mecca sharing stories about the one true Allah (YHWH) from their Holy Books (Bible).  Mohammed (PBUH) heard these stories and used many of the same names but changed the stories themselves.  

For example the story of Abraham sacrificing his son:  in Islam that son is Ishmael, but in Judaism and Christianity that son is Isaac. 

Information taken from Quran, Holy Bible and friends.

570 AD Mohammed (PBUH) is born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

595 AD Mohammed (PBUH), at age 25, marries his wealthy, 40 year-old employer, Khadija, a widow. 

This brought him social and financial security and he began times of meditations on life in a cave during the heat of the summers. He had six children but only one daughter, Fatima, lived to have children.

610 AD Mohammed (PBUH), at age 40, receives his first revelation.

Islamic tradition says: an angel appeared telling him to recite. He foamed at the mouth and whatever he spoke he recited to his followers which they later wrote down and eventually compiled into the Quran. Mohammed (PBUH) himself was illiterate.

622 AD Mohammed (PBUH) flees under persecution to Medina, Saudi Arabia (Hijrah)

This date becomes the beginning of the Islamic calendar

He and followers raid caravans for money, giving some of booty to Muslims (name given to those subscribing to his beliefs.)

630 AD Mohammed (PBUH) conquers Mecca, destroys the idols in the Ka’aba and converts are forced to speak Arabic—the language of the Quran.

632 AD Mohammed (PBUH) dies of sickness 

(Sunnis believe he died of pneumonia, Shiites believe he was poisoned).  A split among his followers occurs due to the succession of leadership creating Sunnis and Shiites.

Mohammed (PBUH) led 66 battles, had slaves and many wives.

  632 AD– 634 AD Muslim armies reunite and Islamic expansion spreads through Africa and Europe

634 AD -750 AD Mohammed’s (PBUH) followers conquer the Middle East, parts of Asia, North Africa and 

most of the Iberian Peninsula 

732 AD Muslim armies are defeated in the Battle of Tours (France)

This was turning point of the Muslim conquest stopping the further expansion into Europe at that time, and what is known as the Christian Reconquest began which lasted for nearly eight centuries until 1492.

1492 AD Reconquest is complete after an eight-month siege in the Battle of Granada at the Alhambra fortress—today, the seventh-most visited tourist sight in the world and the sight of the last Moorish stand.

‘Moors’ was the title used by Europeans for the Muslim armies.

After this date, Islam continued to spread through Africa and Asia where it is a predominant religion to this day while Christianity spread through Central and South America as well as parts of North America due to the Spanish invasion there and through the rest of North America via the English and French.

Information from Iberian Peninsula training.