Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the final messenger in a long line of prophets sent by Allah according to Islamic belief, was born in the year 570 CE in the city of Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. His life is a testament to piety, humility, and leadership and serves as an exemplar for Muslims worldwide. Early Life and Revelation Muhammad (pbuh) was born into the Quraysh tribe, a powerful...

For a brief moment, towards the end of the 12th century, the Muslim world was politically united under one caliph ruling from Baghdad. This political unity, rare in Islamic history, projected itself on the military plane. In West Asia, the Crusaders were ejected from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Salahuddin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. Four years later, in 1191, Muhammed Ghori of Ghazna...

The Fatimid conquest of Egypt (969) was a defining moment in Islamic history. It destroyed any semblance of central authority in the Muslim world, provoked the reaction of the Turks as defenders of orthodox (Sunni) Islam, impelled the Omayyads in Spain to declare their own Caliphate, launched the powerful Murabitun revolution in western Africa, denied the Muslims their last chance to conquer...