Spread of Islam

c. 570 CE 622 CE	Birth of Muhammad in Mecca hijra (migration) to Yathrib which was to become madinat al-nabi (The city of the Prophet) and later just Medina
632	Death of Muhammad By this time, by military and diplomatic means, Islam had spread to almost all western and central Arabia.
by 642 by 656 661	Muslim Arabs have control of Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Iran Arab Empire west to Tripoli (Libya), north to Taurus and Causaus mountians (Turkey and Georgia) and east to Pakistan death of 4th caliph 'Ali - eventually leading to the Sunni/Shi`a split
711 732	Arabs entered Spain to the west (via North Africa) and crossed the Indus river in India Defeat at Tours (France) marks deepest inroad into Western Europe (via Spain) This was the widest spread of the Arab Empire, stretching in 750CE from present day France to India.
750-1258 756-1037 874-999 909-1171 1037-1492 1099 1254-1517 1453 1492	Abbasid Caliphate in Bagdad Umayyad dynasty in Spain (927-1031 Umayyed caliphate of Cordoba) Control of Iran and central Asia by Samanids Fatimid dynasty in northern Africa and Syria based in Cairo Moorish dynasties in Spain capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders Mamluk rule in Egypt fall of Constantinople (Turkey) to Turks Fall of Granada (Spain) marks end of Arab rule in Spain.
	The Ottoman Empire in 1566 (The Ottomans were Turkic people from Central Asia - but continued to spread Islam)
1858 1922 1947 1969 1979	end of Muslim Mughal rule in India Last Ottoman sultan deposed by Atatürk Pakistan founded as Islamic state Islamic socialist regime in Libya by al-Qadhafi Islamic revolutionary regime in Iran by Khumini
2005	Muslims are more than 26% of the world population. They are by far the majority in the Middle East and North Africa. They also number over 100 million in the rest of Africa and over 500 million in the rest of Asia (for instance over 90% of Indonesia and Pakistan are Muslim). There's also over 30 million in Europe and almost 10 million in the Americas. Islam is now a religion that has spread to over 184 countries.

References

Goldschmidt, Arthur, (1991) "A Concise History of the Middle East", Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press
James, David, (1974) "Islamic Art - An Introduction", London: Hamlyn
Welch, Alford, (1988) "Islam" in A Handbook of Living Religions pp 123-170, London: Penguin

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