Islam: a short history

1. Beginnings : The prophet (570-632) ; The Rashidun (632-661) ; The first fitnah

2. 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

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

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

5. 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.