Muhammad and the Islam Religion | AskHistorians Archive Observer

The message that the Prophet Muhammad was preaching was essentially calling the people of Arabia and the World to revert to the worship of the one True God. According to the Koran, the Arabs being the descendants of Abraham's son Ishmael had once worshiped the Abrahamic god put had turned away from him and perused idol worship instead.

The Jews and Christians once had the true teachings as well, but their scriptures had be distorted as well, so God sent the Koran though Muhammad's mouth to proclaim the final truth on the oneness of God and how humanity was to live its life.

There are two primary sources of Islamic doctrine. The first is the Koran, which as stated before is believed by Muslims to be the word of God (Allah is simply the word for God in Arabic given Arab Christians also use the term Allah) transmitted though the Prophet. The other source are collectively known as hadiths and these are the sayings of the Prophet.

Muhammad's career as a prophet is divided into two stages known as the Meccan and Median. During the Meccan period, Muhammad following in the steps of other prophets (Muslims acknowledge the Biblical prophets as precursors to Muhammad, including Jesus, though the Koran strongly stresses that Jesus as a man, though a special who was still born of the virgin Mary) in gathering a small group of followers while criticizing the corruption and greed of the ruling Umayyad family (which Muhammad was a relative to).

Eventually, Muhammad started to acquire death threats and was forced to flee to the city of Medina (it was called Yathrib before the Prophet's coming before being changed to Madinat Al-Nabi or city of the prophet). The people of Medina had invited Muhammad to help rule them and the migration is known as the Hijra and makes the beginning of the Muslim calendar. It was in Medina that Muhammad laid down the formation of how a Muslim community should live and govern. Of course, the Meccans did not these community to succeed, so they started a series of wars that ultimately resulted in Muhammad entering and taking over the city peacefully and restoring the Kaaba to Monotheism by clearing it of idols.

Following the prophet's death, the four men who governed the ummah or community of Muslims were known as the rightly guided or Rashidan caliphs. Interestingly enough, these men were appointed by the will of the community. It was under their rule that the Muslims defeated both the Roman (Byzantine) and Persian Empires and started created a land empire and when the Koran was solidified into its current form.

Under the regein of the fourth Rashidan, Ali bin Abi Talibh, the Prophet's cousin and husband to the Prophet's daughter Fatima ( the Prophet had no sons), a political schism started to form between him and Mu'Awiya the governor of Damascus and soon to be first Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty over who could over what in the rapidly growing Dar Al-Islam or house of Islam (the Muslim World). Eventually, Ali tried to compromised with Mu-Awiya, giving rise to an extremest sect called the Kharijites (the group no long exists, though the independent Ibadi sect of Oman is considered a descendant) who held that only a pure man could be Caliph and assassinated Ali in 661 CE.

It was with Ali's death that the Sunni/ Shia split crystallized and became permanent. The Shia or party of Ali hold that only a descendant of the Prophet (effectively a member of Ali's household) could rule as Caliph while the Sunni asserted that anyone by the will of the community could be Caliph, which at the time would be Mu'Awiya and his Umayyad Dynasty. Ali's son Husayn challenged Mu'Awiya and was subsequently killed with his followers at Karbala, which has been become of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims and what they are remembering on Ashura.

The Umayyads ruled from Damascus and continued to expand Islam from Central Asia to Spain and it was under them that the Dome of the Rock was built in Jerusalem (the third holiest city in Islam and is said to be where Muhammad went on his night trip though Heaven).

The Umayyads suffered from continued unrest from the Shia and the Persians, who resented being conquered and for being considered second class citizens despite Islam's assurances that all Muslim men were equal in God's eyes. This unrest resulting in a revolt in 750 AD that started in Central Asia and resulting in the overthrow and near extinction of the Umayyads (one Umayyad survived and fled to Spain, where he would become Emir and later result in the Caliphate of Cordoba). The dynasty that took their place was called the Abbasids after its first Caliph Abu al-Abbas who claimed descent from one of the Prophet's uncles.

The Abbasids would control the Muslim world de jure until 1258, when the Mongols razed their capital of Baghdad (A rump Abbasid Caliphate existed to Egypt afterwards until Egypt fell to the Ottomans who then proclaimed themselves as Caliphs until the 20th century). It was under them that the Golden Age of Islam existed and the setting of 1001 Arabian Nights.

Finally to answer the last question, in the 10th century, there was a Shia resurgence in the form of the Fatimids (they claimed descent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima) They started in North Africa but quickly took over the rich land of Egypt which would become their base of operations. By this time, the Abbasids had lost most of their de facto power as governors and warlords while still paying lip service to the Caliph had in fact become independent rulers (this is when the term Sultan starts to pop up) and so had little military power of their own. It was also during this time that the Turks started to invade Central Asia and later Persia.

Eventually, the central conflict of the 11th century arose between the Fatimids and the Seljuk Turks, who had conquered Persia and made the Caliph a subordinate. Another threat that had arisen over the course of the 10th century was a resurgent Byzantium, who had conducted frequent raids into Syria and the Levant. While the Seljuks were prominently focused on the Fatimids (the Seljuks were Sunni), they did encounter and defeat an army under the Byzantine emperor at Manzikert which later brought in the Crusades.

Another Shia group worth mentioning are the Hashishin or Assassins as they are more commonly known. Like the Fatimids, the Assassins were interested in overthrowing both the Turks and the Caliph, but instead of facing them toe to toe, the Assassins preferred to conduct suicide missions to target and kill key figures. (Interestingly enough, their anti-Sunni stance made them de facto allies of the Crusaders, who did corroborate with them).

A good book that gives a basic overview of Islamic history is Tamim Ansary's Destiny Disrupted, particularly since it does give a Muslim's view. Hope that answered most of your questions.