Listicle Topic: History

Zakah, rival prophets and tribal secession all fed the Ridda wars, and Sunni and Shia sources tell the Fadak story differently.

Ibn Abbas, Ibn Ishaq, Abu Dawud, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Kindi, al-Ash’ari and al-Ghazali: 7 scholars whose work still frames Islamic learning.

Who were the Kharijites, what did the Prophet say about them, and why do mainstream scholars refuse takfir? 6 facts. Read on.

Who started the Crusades, what happened in Jerusalem in 1099 and 1187, and why Eastern Christians suffered too: 6 facts. Read on.

Did the caliph ʿUmar order the Library of Alexandria burned? 5 facts from the sources behind the story. Read on.

What was the jizya tax? Who paid it, how much, why, and what its critics say. 6 facts from the sources. Read on.

Diodorus, Ptolemy, a new inscription, a Psalm and the Quran: 5 witnesses to the Kaaba, each weighed. Read on.

The first Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem. Critics call that a problem. 5 facts about the change of qibla. Read them.

The Constitution of Medina, the exile of two tribes and the fate of Banu Qurayza: 6 facts from the earliest reports.

The caravan raids, the battle at Badr and the entry into Mecca: 6 facts from the early sources, with the critics’ strongest points conceded.

Refused offers of wealth, a small but growing community, boycott and exile: 5 facts that fit poorly with an invented scheme.

Zayd ibn Amr, Waraqa and Musaylima are said to have supplied the Quran’s early content; the dates and surviving texts show otherwise.