Islamic History and Biography
Islamic history questions cover the caliphates, dynasties, institutions and scholarly biographies, with a strong Egyptian and Al-Azhar focus. The exam rewards sequence and causation: which dynasty replaced which, in what year, and through what event.
Core rules and concepts
- Rashidun: Abu Bakr (632-634), 'Umar (634-644), 'Uthman (644-656), 'Ali (656-661). Key dates: Yarmuk and Qadisiyyah 636, Nahawand 642, the compilation of the diwan under 'Umar.
- Umayyad (661-750, Damascus), founded by Mu'awiyah; the battle of the Zab (750) ends the dynasty and opens the Abbasid age.
- Abbasid (750-1258, Baghdad), with the Buyid and Saljuq interlude; the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258.
- Fatimid (909-1171), founded in Ifriqiya, moved to Egypt in 969; Jawhar al-Siqilli founded Cairo and al-Azhar in 970 as a mosque and teaching centre.
- Ayyubid (1171-1250): Salah al-Din ends the Fatimid state and restores Sunni teaching at al-Azhar; Hattin 1187.
- Mamluk (1250-1517): Baybars and the defeat of the Mongols at 'Ayn Jalut (1260).
- Ottoman: the conquest of Egypt in 1517 by Selim I.
- Andalusia: 711 entry, the Umayyad emirate and caliphate of Cordoba, the fall of Granada in 1492.
Worked example
Order these four events: al-Azhar founded, Salah al-Din enters Cairo, 'Ayn Jalut, the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. The Fatimid foundation of al-Azhar is 970; Salah al-Din's abolition of the Fatimid state is 1171; 'Ayn Jalut is 1260 under the Mamluks; the Ottoman conquest is 1517. The sequence is often tested because students place al-Azhar after Salah al-Din: it was founded by the Fatimids and only later became a Sunni institution.
Traps that cost marks
- Attributing the founding of al-Azhar to the Ayyubids.
- Confusing the Mongol destruction of Baghdad (1258) with 'Ayn Jalut (1260).
- Mixing the Umayyad mosque-building programme with the Abbasid translation movement.
- Giving the fall of Granada as 1453 (which is the fall of Constantinople).