First the Arabs, then the Persians and later the Turks started to create a classical Islamic civilization. In the 13th century, both Africa and India were important centers of Islamic civilization. Soon after, Muslim kingdoms were established in the Malay-Indonesian world, while Muslims flourished equally in China.

Islamic civilization is committed to two basic principles: oneness of Allah and oneness of humanity. Islam does not allow any racial, linguistic or ethnic discrimination; it stands for universal humanism.

He was a member of a modest clan, the Hashim, which was part of a successful tribe, the Quraysh, in Mecca.

Yathrib was renamed Medina, where Hz. Mohammed had to migrate to because he was in danger in Mecca.

When Hz. Mohammed returned to Mecca with 1,500 of his followers, he became the spiritual and political leader of Mecca. His presence was so powerful that average citizens were converted to Islam in large groups.

After Hz. Mohammed died, the Islamic Empire expanded rapidly. Large empires from the West and the East were about to decline at the time of Hz. Mohammed, so there was an opportunity for a new unifying force. The timing of the birth of Islam was ideal. The Islamic civilization was able to quickly become an empire that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the east of China, and from the Persian and Indian Oceans to the north of the Black Sea in less than 100 years.

Possibly the most influential on the Islamic civilization was the region now known as Istanbul. As Istanbul was the gateway to the “Orient,” Islam and the Islamic civilization actually brought the cultures of China and the vast steppe, desert, and mountains of Central Asia, as well as the colors and flavors of India to Africa and Europe together. The Islamic civilization, geographically situated at the real crossroads of civilization - the spot between the people of Europe and Africa and those of India and China facilitated global trade by connecting the cultures of the “Silk Road” with those of the West. Modern civilization owes more to Islam than most people realize.

It is taught that the Ka’aba was actually built by Abraham.

By the time of Hz. Mohammed’s birth there were 360 idols in the Ka’aba, each of them were representing a different deity. This made Mecca a popular tourist destination, attracting people from all over the region. This is why Hz. Mohammed was constantly exposed to people of different tribes and cultures, each with different ideas about life and religion.

The two main empires which controlled the world were the Byzantine Empire, (330 CE - 1453 CE) in the west which was based in Constantinople and the final version of the mighty Roman Empire. The empire to the east of Mecca was the Sasanian Empire, or Persian Empire which was not the first one. The first Persian Empire, or Achaemenid Empire, ended in 330 BCE, when Alexander the Great defeated Darius III.

After the Greek conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, there was a brief period of chaos followed by the Parthian Empire. The Parthian Empire lasted from 247 BCE to 224 CE. Greek culture, installed in Persia after Alexander’s conquest, continued to play an important role in politics and commerce. This influence was passed on from the Parthian Empire to the Sasanian Empire, which ruled Persia from 224 CE to 651 CE. By 620 CE, the Sasanian Empire were like the final days of the First Persian Empire when Alexander the Great was about to conquer it.

The Sasanian Empire included the territory that is now Egypt, most of the shoreline of modern Saudi Arabia, nearly all of modern day Turkey, and the entire region of the Caucasus. The Sasanian Empire lasted for over 400 years on the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire, and was able to take over much of the territory west of Greece when it collapsed. This gave the Sasanian Empire its greatest size just before the beginning of Islam. It also meant that the Empire was extended to its farthest reaches.

The Byzantine Empire was located in the west of what is now Saudi Arabia, known as the Roman Empire, since it was actually the final form of the ancient Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire reached its height about 100 years before the Prophet was born. With the capital in Constantinople, modern day Istanbul, the Byzantine Empire continued the regional dominance of the Roman Empire in the name of Christianity.  

The Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine Empire in 1453

The Byzantine Emperor made Greek the official language in the years shortly before the Prophet was born; a major change from the Latin that had been in place since the Roman Empire. This simple change helped the expansion of the early Islamic Empire since there was a significant Greek influence in Persia.

The Byzantine and Sasanian Empires fought for many years. The last of their conflicts was the ByzantineSasanian war of 602-628. By the end of this conflict, both sides were exhausted. They were no longer able to find enough money and people. This 26-year-long war led to the collapse of the Sasanian Empire in 651.

Hz. Mohammed was born in 571. He was a member of the Hashim clan, which belonged to the powerful Quarash tribe.

The Islam was revealed to Prophet Mohammed b. (son of) Abdullah in 610 CE.

He was adopted by his uncle Abu Talib.

Because of his hard work and honest nature, Hz. Mohammed was given the title al-Amin, or “trusted one.” This was a title not given to everyone.

With age and experience Hz. Mohammed developed an important skill to be a leader: diplomacy. More and more people came to him to settle disputes, to act as a judge.

Hz. Mohammed was worried about fighting among tribes, social injustice, and discrimination against women. A common practice at the time of Hz. Mohammed was to kill young girls if food or water was hard to find. The Qur’an specifically says this is wrong. Hz. Mohammed saw the need for social rules to promise women the right of inheritance, and rights within marriage including the ability to start a divorce action. He believed
that women were citizens and should have the right to have businesses and to own property.

At Hira, the words of Allah were delivered to the Prophet by Gabriel (Jibrail / Cebrail). These are called the divine revelations (Wahy-Vahiy).

The product of the divine revelations was the Qu’ran.The messages in the Qur’an came to the Prophet Mohammad gradually over the course of many years. During this time, he used to convey the messages to his community, and his followers memorized and wrote them down, eventually forming them into the Qur’an.

The Qu’ran consists of 114 chapters (Surahs) with more than six thousand verses.

The book was written in Arabic calligraphy. The influence of these verses was so significant that the language used in the writing of the Qur’an became the basis for classical written and spoken Arabic.

 At first, Hz. Mohammed preached the Revelations to his family and friends. His wife Khadija (Hatice), his cousin Ali, Abu Bakr (Ebu Bekir), his friend, were the first ones who embraced Islam.When the message to condemn idolatry came to Hz. Mohammed , most things changed. The Meccan leaders, from the same Quraysh tribe that Mohammed’s clan came from, had considered the Muslims as a fringe group. But his direct attacks on the main religion of the city caused the city leaders to see Hz. Mohammed as a threat. As the Revelations continued, specific attacks on the Meccan power structure began. Hz. Mohammed revealed the greediness of the Meccan leaders and drew attention to the fact that they failed to care for those in need. Finally, after three years of Revelations, Hz. Mohammed was commanded by Allah to become more publicly visible in his preaching. He spoke loudly in public about the shortcomings of idolatry and declared the oneness of Allah. Open hostility toward the followers of Islam in Mecca led Hz. Mohammed to instruct his followers to take refuge in Ethiopia. Around 80 people were able to travel to what was then Abyssinia in 614.

This successful exodus was an insult to the leaders. The Meccan leaders sent a message to the Abyssinian king demanding that the Muslims be sent back to Mecca. The Prophet Mohammed and his followers discussed their religion with the king who then agreed to shelter them. The Qurayshi leaders announced a boycott of the Hashim clan unless they would turn against Hz. Mohammed. The announcement was written down and placed in the Ka’aba to make it clear that it was an official statement by the leadership that protected their power and way of life. For three years all interaction with the Prophet and his family was banned, and the Hashim family members were all placed under arrest in their home area. Finally, some of the Qurayshi leaders felt that this ban was wrong. They went to the Ka’aba to get the document that banned the Hashim, but insects had eaten most of it. All that remained were the words: “In thy name, Oh, Allah”. The leaders were moved by the apparent religious significance of this statement and immediately lifted the ban against the Hashim. Hz. Mohammed and his followers could return to Mecca. 

The Hijrah (Hicret), took place in 622 and was the second exodus of the Muslim community from Mecca. This time it was to Medina. This event strengthened Hz. Mohammed’s transition from preacher to leader.

Hz.Mohammed built the first mosque in Qubaa, a small town near Medina.

Islam has five basic-duties which Muslims must perform: the five Pillars of Islam (Arkân al-Islam). These pillars are mentioned in the following Hadith (a saying of Prophet Mohammed): “Islam is based on five things; declaring that there is no god but Allah and that Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah, performance of Salah, payment of Zakah, Hajj (Pilgrimage), Savm in the month of Ramadan.” The Five Pillars as mentioned in the Hadith are; a) Shahadah: (Declaration of faith) b) Salah : (Five compulsory daily prayers) c) Zakah : (Welfarecontribution) d) Hajj : (Pilgrimage to Mecca) e) Sawm : (Fasting during Ramadan).

The mosque served as a place to pray together, a school, a shared meeting place and an office for the administration of the local society. All of these functions are the foundational aspects of a civilization.

It was decided that September 23rd, 622 would be the beginning date for the Muslim calendar.

The Constitution of Medina is a document from early Islamic history based upon two agreements concluded between the clans of Medina and the Prophet Mohammed soon after the Hijrah, or emigration, to Medina in ad 622. The agreements established the muhajirun, i.e., the early Muslims who followed Mohammed, on a par with the eight clans of Medina (called the anşar, or “helpers”); collectively, the nine tribes formed the first Muslim community (ummah). The agreements also regulated the relations of the Muslims with the Jews of Medina.

In the tenth year of the Muslim calendar the Prophet Mohammed set off from Medina with tens of thousands of Muslims to perform the pilgrimage. This trip was his last and is referred to as the “Pilgrimage of Farewell.”

The five main characteristics of the Islamic civilization are: 

• Islamic civilization is based on the monotheistic Islamic faith that believes in the oneness of the Almighty Allah, the ceator of this universe. 
• It is a civilization with a universal dimension. It is not associated with a particular geographic region, race or a histrical era. It is based on the idea that man comes before the rest of all creatures of Allah.
• It is an open civilization and the most pluralist religion. It coexists with other religions and allows full religious autonomy. 
• It is a well-balanced civilization insisting on a balance between the material and the spritual life.
• It will last as long as Islam exists.

The rise of industrial age and the beginnings of colonialism caused the Islamic civilization to suffer a serious setback. Muslims were influenced by Western culture and civilization.

The capital of the first islamic state was Medina.

The Arab society consisted of not more than a city-state structure. There was no written law, no constitution. Particularly in Medina there was no governing authority either hereditary or elected. There was no financial system nor any police or army. There was no concept of territorial governance or defense.

After his arrival in Medina, Hz. Mohammed invited the elders of various religious groups and tribes and suggested establishment of a city-state. All Muslims, Christians, Arabs, and Jews then ratified the Constitution of Medina. The pact transformed Medina into a small but the first ever Muslim State in the world’s history. All religious communities were free to follow their own law and traditions. Using religion to force people to change their way of life ended. Hz. Mohammed was the only official leader of the newly founded group. Defense of Medina became the shared responsibility of the community. The new constitution explained the responsibilities and rights of both the citizens and local leaders. 

They were known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali.

The Umayyad Caliphate was established in 661 CE and lasted for about one hundred years. The capital moved from Mecca to Damascus.

The Abbasids Dynasty was established in 750 CE. The Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad.

A sophisticated banking system was established during the Abbasid dynasty with branches as far away as China. An efficient postal service, a watersupply system, a sewage system, and a large and powerful military were all developed at this time. Countless libraries and bookstores were also established.

They ruled for over 500 years, the longest lasting caliphate in the history of Islamic civilization. When Hulagu (Halaku Khan), the Mongol ruler, captured Baghdad, in 1258 CE, the Abbasid Caliphate ended.

Seljuk, the leader of the Seljuks converted to Islam around 985 CE.

After a decisive battle in 1040 CE the Seljuks were victorious and became the regional power for Persia and Central Asia in the Abbasid Khalifate. Within a few years the Seljuk leader had gained control over Baghdad, where he greatly impressed the Abbasid leaders and was brought into an alliance with their Khalifate to replace the Buyid’s as the local governmental apparatus. It was at this time that the Seljuk leader was given the title of Sultan by the Abbasid Khalifa.

By 1071 CE the Seljuk Empire had expanded across Anatolia. The Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt) was another critical event in the history of both the Islamic and Turkish Civilizations. The clear victory of the Seljuks over the Byzantine Empire on August 26, 1071 CE was the first major step for Anatolia to become Turkish.

In 1153 the Oghuz tribe captured the Seljuk leader Ahmed Sanjar. By 1194 the Empire had collapsed and became no more than a collection of self-governing states called beyliks. One of these beyliks eventually developed into the mighty Ottoman Empire.

When the Abbasids captured Damascus, one of the Umayyad princes went to Spain and established an Umayyad princedom, beginning the Golden Age of Islam in Spain. Cordoba became the capital and Europe’s greatest city at the time, for population and culture.

When the last Islamic dynasty in Granada was defeated in 1492 CE, nearly 800 years of Muslim rule ended.

The Mongols conquered the eastern lands of Islam and ruled from the Sinai Desert to India for a century. In 1258 CE the Mongols destroyed Baghdad. This is the date that many historians say was the end of the Golden Age of Islam.

The Turks rose to power and ruled over the whole of Anatolia and parts of Europe. When Mehmed II (the Conquerer) captured Constantinople in 1453, the Byzantine Empire ended. The Ottomans conquered much of Eastern Europe and nearly the whole of the Arab world with only Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen and the parts of the Arabian peninsula left outside the new empire.

After the Empire reached its peak with Süleyman the Magnificent, the influence of the Ottoman Empire began to shrink because of the rise of western European and later Russian Powers from the 17th century onward. It was still a great empire until it was defeated in the First World War. In 1923 CE Kemal Atatürk gained power and declared Turkey a secular Republic, ending six centuries of Ottoman rule.

In India Islam entered to the east of the Indus River peacefully. Gradually, Muslims gained political power beginning in the early 13th century. But this period, which marked the expansion of both Islam and Islamic culture, came to an end with the conquest of much of India in 1526 CE by Babur, one of the Timurid princes. He established a powerful Mogul empire, which ended with the concentration of the British power in 1857 CE.

In the Malay world, Islam began to spread in the 12th century in northern Sumatra. Muslim kingdoms were established in Java, Sumatra, and the mainland Malaysia. Islam spread in the area covering today’s Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, and southern Thailand.

First, only Sudan and Somaliland became Arabized and Islamized. West Africa felt the presence of Islam through north African traders who travelled south of the Sahara. By the 14th century, there were already Muslim princedoms in such areas as Mali and Timbuktu in western Africa. Harare in eastern Africa became centers of Islamic learning. Gradually, Islam moved inland and south. The expansion of the Islamic Civilization into Africa did not stop during the colonial period, and continues today. Most Africans are now Muslims.

After they established the new Islamic order, during the Umayyad period, they turned their attention to the preservation of the centers of knowledge. The philosophical and scientific works were translated not only from Greek and Syriac (the language of eastern Christian scholars) but Pahlavi (the scholarly language of preIslamic Persia) and Sanskrit.

It was established by caliph Al-Ma’mun (Baytal-Hikmah) in the early 9th century.

Arabian scientists made progress in the art of healing, especially in the use of curative drugs. They established hospitals and even provided advanced medical care to prisoners. They made careful studies of diseases and did creative work in the optics, or eye care. Possibly the greatest contribution of Islamic Civilization to the medical world of the Middle Ages was in the writing of medical text books. Al Razi (865-925 CE.), from Persia, wrote one of these books. It contains all of the medical knowledge of the Arabs in the 10th century. It was translated and published in Sicily, Italy, in 1279 CE.

Ibn Sina wrote the greatest of the medical boks (Avicenna in Europe: 980-1037 CE). One of the world’s great intellects, Ibn Sina had a photographic memory. By the age of twenty-one he had read and absorbed all of the books in the Royal Library of the Sultan of Bukhara. Ibn Sina’s book was eventually translated into Latin in the 12th century and became the most important medical book of the middle-ages in all of Europe. From the 12th to 17th centuries, it was the main medical book in the West and it is still in occasional use in the Muslim East.

Alexandria was conquered by the Islamic Empire in 642. The Egyptians had done much in the development of what is now called chemistry in ancient times. The Muslims, learned everything they could about the chemistry of the ancient Egyptians, and then build on that knowledge. The Arabic word for this science was alchemr which the medieval scientists of Europe knew as alchemy.

Jabir (Geber) was seen as the father of Arabic chemistry. He made great progress in the theory and practice of his science. Translations of his works into Latin had a strong influence in Europe and helped start the modern study of chemistry.

The Islamic Civilization made contributions to medical science, the decimal system, algebra, chemistry, astronomy, geography, navigation, paper, gunpowder, textiles, agricultural products, universities and machinery.

Oneness of Allah and oneness of humanity.

The Quraysh, in Mecca.

The Islamic Empire expanded rapidly right after the death of Hz. Mohammed.

Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire.

Hz. Mohammed was born in 571.

In a nearby cave at Hira.

Hz.Mohammed's followers memorised them and wrote them down.

Hz. Mohammed's wife Khadija (Hatice) was the first woman to embrace Islam. His cousin Ali, his friend Abu Bakr (Ebu Bekir) were the first.

The Arabian Peninsula was populated with polytheistic Semitic people before the Prophet Mohammed.

It is taught that the Ka’aba was actually built by Abraham.

The Hijrah (Hicret), took place in 622.

The Truce of Hudaybiyyah announced that there would be no fighting between Mecca and Medina for 10 years, Hz. Mohammed could visit Mecca immediately, and that in the following year he would be allowed to bring his people on pilgrimage to the Ka’aba.

The people of Mecca were in fear for their lives.

There are five main characteristics that distinguish Islamic civilization from other civilizations.

Between the 7th and 12th centuries, Islam became the center of a brilliant civilization and of a great scientific, philosophic, and artistic culture.

The Abbasid Khalifate expanded the iqta system which dramatically increased agricultural production.

They were Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali who were called as the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

Saladin [Salahuddin] Ayubi

Ibn Sina

Rice, lentils and other vegetables cooked in olive oil. Coffee, sugar and the growing techniques for cherries, peaches, apricots, and gooseberries were some of those agricultural products.