Timeline Arabs
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Al-Razi, a medieval Arab alchemist, authored "The Secret of Secrets, a compendium of medieval Islamic science.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A17)
19k-15kBCE During this period a Semitic group of nomads migrated from Sumer to Canaan and then on to Egypt. They were led by a caravan trader, the Patriarch Abraham, who became the father of the nation of Israel. Ishmael was a son of Abraham had by Hagar. Isaac was a son of Abraham by Sarah. Hebrews trace their lineage through Isaac, Arabs through Ishmael.
(eawc, p.3)(NW, 11/02, p.55)
c500-600 Arabs brought backed home from India the numerals we refer to as Arabic numbers.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, Z1 p.2)
570 Jan 19, Mohammed (d.632), "The Prophet", Islamic founder (Koran), was born into the Quraysh tribe in Makkah. He was orphaned at an early age and found work in a trade caravan. He married a wealthy widow and this gave him the freedom to visit Mount Hira each year to think. His birthday is observed on the 12th day of Rabi ul'Awwal, the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, in a festival known as Mawlid-al-Nabi.
(ATC, p.59)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)(MC, 1/19/02)
610 Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of God.
(ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)
610-632 A Muslim tradition has it that Mohammed one day found that his favorite wife, Aisha, had purchased some cushions decorated with birds and animals. The prophet proclaimed that only God could bestow life and that pale imitations should be avoided. Thus the hadith, or tradition of the prophet, holds that: The house which contains pictures will not be entered by the angels."
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
610-632 During Mohammed's ministry in Mecca and Medina the definition of jihad moved from persuasive proselytism to Muslim war against all infidels.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
622 Jul 16, Islamic Era began. Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
(MC, 7/16/02)
624 Muslims engaged non-believers for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr.
(www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)
630 Mohammad raised an army of 10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship. Mohammad returned from Medina and began the Islamic conquest of Arabia.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)
632 Jun 8, Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. His companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna. Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3) giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sunna also calls for “jihad." The term means struggle, i.e. to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil.
Four contenders stood out to succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood relative. Ali was Mohammad’s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad’s grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor.
(ATC, p.60,63)(HN, 6/8/98)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP, 6/8/03)
Iqra, which means read in Arabic, was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)
In 2001 Minou Reeves, Iranian-born scholar, authored “Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making "
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)
633CE Muhammad's chief clerk collected Mohammad's revelations into one work called the Koran (Quran). Loosely translated it means "recitation." "Whoever witnesses the crescent of the month, he must fast the month." (Koran, al Baqarah 2:185) Ramadan begins the day after the crescent of the new moon is sighted and confirmed by 2 witnesses. Muslims must abstain from food and sex during daylight hours for a month to celebrate the revelation of the Koran to Mohammed. The later Sunnah holy text reported the sayings and deeds of Muhammad. The Muslim beard tradition is from the Sunnah.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 1/7/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A14)
633CE Gen Khalid ibn al-Walid sent a letter to the Persian emperor that said: "Submit to our authority and we shall leave you and your land and go against others. If not, you will be conquered against your will by men who love death as you love life."
(WSJ, 10/19/01, p.W19)
634 Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah (61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an Arabic merchant, Mohammed’s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
(ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)
635CE Damascus was captured by the Muslims.
(ATC, p.78)
636 Jul 23, Arabs gained control of most of Palestine from Byzantine Empire.
(MC, 7/23/02)
636 Aug 15, At the Battle at Yarmuk, east of the Sea of Galilee, Islamic forces beat a Byzantine army and gained control of Syria.
(PC, 1992, p.61)
637CE Muslim armies conquer Mesopotamia.
(ATC, p.78)
640CE Muslim Arabs invaded Armenia and capture Dvin, its principal town.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
640CE The Muslim government began minting coins about this time.
(ATC, p.83)
0642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
0642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
644CE Nov 4, Umar of Arabia, the 2nd Caliph of Islam, was assassinated at Medina and was succeeded as caliph by Uthman. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand the Muslim empire. [see Dec 8]
(ATC, p.67)(HN, 11/4/98)(MC, 11/4/01)
644 Dec 8, Omar I, 2nd caliph of Islam, was murdered. [see Nov 4]
(MC, 12/8/01)
652CE Arabs introduced Islam to Afghanistan.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
656CE Uthman appointed members of his own family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman's murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman's cousin and governor of Syria, challenged Ali's right to rule. Ali prepared for war but was murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are called the Sunnis.
(ATC, p.67-68)
c656CE The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
(SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)
657 Jul 26, Mu'awiyan defeated Caliph Ali in the Battle of Siffin in Mesopotamia.
(HN, 7/26/98)
661 Jan 24, Ali ibn Abu Talib, caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the majority Muslim group.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(MC, 1/24/02)
661CE Muawija became caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. His followers were called the Umayyads. Muawija was one of the soldiers who helped capture Damascus and for 25 years he had served as governor of Syria. Muawija began the practice of appointing his own son as the next caliph, and so the Umayyads ruled for the next 90 years. Muslim forces expanded into North Africa and completely conquered Persia. The Islamic Empire continued to expand into Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the Omayyad Caliphs conquered Damascus, they built the palace at Qasr Al-Kharaneh (in Jordan) as a recreational lodge.
(ATC, p.67,78)(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.9)
676CE Cairo was built by the Arabs only 1300 years ago. The name comes from the Egyptian "El Qahir," the name of the planet Mars.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.165)(SFEC, 8/17/97, Z1 p.2)
680 Oct 10, Hussein, grandson of prophet Mohammed, was beheaded. He was killed by rival Muslim forces on the Karbala plain in modern day Iraq. He then became a saint to Shiite Muslims. Traditionalists and radical guerrillas alike commemorate his martyrdom as the ceremony of Ashoura. The 10-day mourning period during the holy month of Muharram commemorates the deaths of Caliph Ali's male relatives by Sunnis from Iraq.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A8)(MC, 10/10/01)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)
685-705CE Abd al Malik, Umayyad caliph, influenced the shaping of Islamic culture. He declared Arabic as the official language of the empire and established a common coinage system that was purely Arabic. They had no images but were inscribed with quotations from the Koran.
(ATC, p.83)
688CE North Africa was conquered by the Muslims under Abd al Malik.
(ATC, p.83)
691 The Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem was built. It contained inscriptions that later were held as the 1st evidence of the Koran.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
c700 Abd al Malik issued the first pure Islamic coins.
(ATC, p.83)
705 Oct 8, Abd al-Malik, caliph of Damascus, died.
(MC, 10/8/01)
711CE The Umayyads with the help of the Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The Berber leader Tarik crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began the Muslim conquest of Spain. The word Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)(SFEC, 9/29/96, zone 1 p.2)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
737 Marwan, an Arab general, captured the Khazar khagan and forced him to pledge support to the Caliphate and convert to Islam.
(TJOK, pages 162-163)
c750 Arab immigrants settled upstream from Soba, the capital of Alwa, and developed a strong new state called Funj.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
750-1258CE Muslim power in Persia was held by the Abbassid family headed by al Abbas. One Abbasid general, Abdullah, invited 80 Umayyad leaders to a banquet where they were killed by Abdullah's men. Only one Umayyad, Abd al Rahman, was able to escape. He fled all the way to Spain where he united the warring Muslin groups there and built a new Umayyad government. So now the Muslims were split in two groups. The Abbassid dynasty of the Moslem Empire ruled Arabia and the eastern empire. All of the caliphs of this era claim descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
(AHD, 1971, p.2)(ATC, p.84)
751CE During a raid into central Asia, the Abbasids captured some Chinese artisans skilled in paper making.
(ATC, p.89)
752CE Abu Jafar al Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, moved the capital to Baghdad.
(ATC, p.85)
756CE May 15, Abd-al-Rahman was proclaimed the emir of Cordoba, Spain. Abd al Rahman united the Umayyad forces in Spain and made the ancient Roman city of Cordoba his new capital.
(ATC, p.95)(HN, 5/15/98)
786 Feb 4, Harun al-Rashid succeeded his older brother the Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi as Caliph of Baghdad.
(HN, 2/4/99)
786 Sep 24, Al-Hadi, Arabic caliph of Islam (185-86), died.
(MC, 9/24/01)
786CE Abd al Rahman began construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. It was under construction for 200 years.
(ATC, p.95)
c800-900 The Alawi faith was founded in the 9th century by a Muslim, who declared himself the "gateway" to the divine truth and abandoned Islam.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
800-900 Buran, the wife of the Caliph of Baghdad, had a lavish wedding. The groom was led to a carpet of woven gold and 1,000 pearls were poured over his head in honor of a poet who had described the surface of a glass of white wine as: "pearls scattered like pebbles on a plain of gold."
(SFC, 12/18/96, zz-1 p.8)
800-900 Muhammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, Arab mathematician and astronomer, wrote his "ab al-jabr w' al muqabalah" (the science of reduction and comparison). The work dealt with solving equations. It was the first time that algebra was discussed as a separate branch of mathematics. In the 12th century it was translated into Latin as "Ludus algebrae et almucgrabalaeque."
(Alg, 1990, p.87)
800-900 Jaber bin Hayyan, an Iraqi polymath, elaborated on algebra (al-jabr) and described "flammable vapours" at the mouths of heated wine vessels.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
809 Mar 24, Harun al-Rashid (44), caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), died.
(MC, 3/24/02)
813 Sep 25, Al-Amin, Arabic Caliph of Islam (809-813), was murdered.
(MC, 9/25/01)
813-833CE Caliph al Ma'mun founded a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.
(ATC, p.89)
815 Abu Nawas, Arab poet, died. His odes included verses on Baghdad liquor that was "as hot between the ribs as a firebrand."
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
816 Fatima, sister of the eighth Imam, lies buried in a sanctuary at Qum, one of the sacred cities of the Shia faith.
(NG, 9/1939, p.320)
820 Jan 20, Abu Abdallah Mibn Idris al-Sjafi'i, Islamic author of Book of Mother, died.
(MC, 1/20/02)
883 Mar 8, Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)
838 Jan 4, Babak, Persian social and religious reformer, was martyred.
(MC, 1/4/02)
886CE Under Muslim Arabs the Bagratid family rose to prominence in Armenia and established a line of kings from this time to the 10th century.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
c900CE By this time the Fatimids broke away from the Abbasids and migrated to North Africa. They were descendants of Mohammad's daughter, Fatima.
(ATC, p.91)
902 Aug 1, The Aghlabid rulers of Ifriqiyah (modern day Tunisia) captured Taormina, Sicily.
(HN, 8/1/98)
904 Jul 31, Arabs captured Thessalonica of the Byzantine Empire.
(HN, 7/31/98)
905 Persian astronomer Al Sufi referred to the Andromeda galaxy as the "Little Cloud."
(NH, 11/96, p.78)
910 Rhazes, an Arab physician, wrote the 1st account of smallpox and proposed the earliest theory of immunity.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
912-961 Abd al Rahman III, Umayyad caliph in Spain, purchased Scandinavian, African and German slaves to serve in his forces. At this time Cordoba was western Europe's largest city with a population of 200,000 people.
(ATC, p.96)
922 Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)( http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismearly.html#Hallaj)
923 Feb 16, Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari (83), Islamic historian, died.
(MC, 2/16/02)
938-1002 Al-Mansur (the Conqueror), Moorish leader. He was born Abu'Amir al-Ma'asiri and rose to power by wooing the caliph's favorite concubine. He raided Christian Spain and hauled his booty back to Cordoba and built a palace called Madinat al-Zahira, the Shining City.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
962-1030 An Islamic era in Afghanistan was established with the Ghaznavid Dynasty.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
962-1140 Under the Ghaznavid Dynasty Afghanistan became the center of Islamic power and civilization.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
964AD Arab astronomers described the Great Nebula in Andromeda, our closest galaxy.
(V.D.-H.K.p.333)
967 Nov 20, Aboe al-Faradj al-Isfahani, Arabic author (Book of liederen), died.
(MC, 11/20/01)
969 Named El Qahira -"the victorious," Cairo gained power from its position beside the Nile.
(NG, May 1985, R. Caputo, p.603)
969 By this time the Fatimids had conquered most of North Africa and claimed Cairo as their capital.
(ATC, p.91)
976 Oct 1, Al-Hakam II, the caliph of Cordoba, died.
(MC, 10/1/01)
976 The Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) was completed and served as a religious, social and educational center. The largest of the 70 libraries in Cordoba contained 500,000 volumes. 70,000 books a year were hand-copied to satisfy the citizen's literary appetites.
(ATC, p.95,98)
980-1037 Avicenna (Ibn Sina, Afghan scientist), the Muslim philosopher-scientist, was born in Bukhara (Balkh). He wrote "The Book of Healing," a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and "The Canon of Medicine," an encyclopedia of the medical knowledge of his time. Both works were translated to Latin and exerted great influence on Scholastics in the West.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(V.D.-H.K.p.115)
994 Nov 7, Muhammad ibn Hazm, historian, jurist, author of Islamic Spain, was born.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1002 Aug 2, Abu Amir Mohammed ibn Abd Allah ibn Mohammed ibn Abi Amir (64) died.
(MC, 8/2/02)
1048 Dec 13, Al-Biruni (74), Arabic royal astrologer, died.
(MC, 12/13/01)
1050 Arabs brought their decimal system to Spain.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1095 Nov 26, Pope Urban urged the faithful to wrest the Holy Land from the Muslims, heralding start of Crusades.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1126 Nov 26, Al-Borsoki, emir of Aleppo-Mosoel (Syria), was assassinated.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1141 Sep 8, Battle of Samarkand (Uzbekistan): Yelutashi defeated Islams.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1147 Oct 25, At the Battle at Doryleum Arabs beat Konrad III's crusaders. Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France had assembled 500,000 men for the 2nd Crusade. Most of the men were lost to starvation, disease and battle wounds.
(PCh, 1992, p.94)(MC, 10/25/01)
1165 Jul 28, Ibn al-'Arabi, Muslim mystic, philosopher, was born.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1187 Oct 2, Sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem from Crusaders.
(MC, 10/2/01)
1191 Aug 20, Crusader King Richard I (1157-1199), Coeur de Lion (the "Lionheart"), executed some 2,700-3,000 Muslim prisoners in Acre (Akko).
(MC, 8/20/02)
1192 Sep 2, Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lion Hearted signed a cease fire.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1193 Mar 4, Saladin [Salah ed-Din]) Yusuf ibn Ayyub (52), Kurdish sultan of Egypt and Syria (1175-1193), died. Saladin led the Muslims against the Crusaders.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.M6)(PC, 1992, p.100)(AP, 3/4/04)
1212 Jul 16, Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa marked the end of Muslim power in Spain.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1218 Aug 31, Al-Malik ab-Adil, Saphadin, Saif al-Din, brother of Saladin, died.
(MC, 8/31/01)
1260 Oct 23,Koetoez, Turkish sultan of Egypt, was murdered.
(MC, 10/23/01)
1289 Apr 29, Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli.
(HN, 4/29/98)
1291 Jul 31, Egyptian Mamelukes (Mamluks) occupied Akko (Akre). The crusaders were driven out of Palestine.
(MC, 7/31/02)(Arch, 7/02, p.19)
1325-1355 Ibn Battuta, a Muslim, left his home in Tangier to journey to Mecca. He traveled in Arabia, Asia, Africa, and Spain and recorded many exciting adventures.
(ATC, p.13)
1331 Ibn Battuta, Arab traveler and scholar, visited Kilwa. He described Kilwa as "one of the most beautiful and well-constructed towns in the world."
(ATC, p.143)
1332 May 27, Ibn Khaldun (d.1406), Arab historian, was born in Tunis. He was also a social scientist and political activist and developed theories on economics and politics. He authored the "Muqaddimah" (introduction to history), that gave an in-depth analysis of the cyclical nature of the rise, maturation and decline of political regimes and economies.
(HN, 5/27/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R20)
1340 Nov 28, In the Battle of Salado, Spain, the last Moor invasion was driven back.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1352 Ibn Battuta decided to cross the Sahara Desert. The journey took two months to complete the 1,200 miles.
(ATC, p.112)
1353 Ibn Battuta spent a few months in Mali and left a full description of his experiences.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
1396 Sep 25, The last great Christian crusade, led jointly by John the Fearless of Nevers and King Sigismund of Hungary, ended in disaster at the hands of Sultan Bajazet I's Ottoman army at Nicopolis.
(HN, 9/25/98)
1396 Sep 26, Sultan Bajezid I beheaded several hundred crusaders.
(MC, 9/26/01)
1400s The Saud dynasty was founded near Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1492 Jan 2, Boabdil, the leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain surrendered to Spanish forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. Sultan Muhammad XI surrendered, ending Muslin rule in Spain. The combined Catholic forces of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile drove out the last of the Berbers from Spain. The Moors were expelled. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella took the town of Grenada, the last Moslem kingdom in Spain. The event became marked by an annual festival that began around 1516.
(ATC, p.73,100)(AP, 1/2/98)(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.T11)(HN, 1/2/99)(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A6)(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.C20)
1502 Feb 1, In Granada Moslems were forced to convert to Catholicism.
(MC, 2/12/02)
1515-1519 Coffee from Arabia appeared in Europe.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1516 Aug 24, At the Battle of Marjdabik, north of Aleppo, the Turks beat Syria. Suliman I, the Ottoman Sultan, routed the Mamelukes (Egypt) with the support of artillery capturing Aleppo and Damascus.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(PC, 1992, p.169)
1518 Algiers and Tunis, Barbary states in North Africa, were founded.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1521 Nov 20, Arabs attributed a shortage of water in Jerusalem to Jews making wine.
(MC, 11/20/01)
1554 Dragut, leader of the Mediterranean pirates, recaptured Mehedia, Tunisia, from the Spaniards.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)
1568 The "Shahnameh" by Firdawsi, as commissioned by Shah Tahmasp was given to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II. By 1903 it was in the hand of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
(WSJ, p. A-18, 10/13/94)
c1600 Mahmud al-Kati authored the Tarikh al-Fattash, a history of the Sudan up to the late 16th century.
(AM, 7/04, p.36)
1626 Dec 1, Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical governor of Jerusalem, was driven out.
(MC, 12/1/01)
1703 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d.1792), Islamic theologian and founder of Wahhabism, was born in Arabia. He set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity" (1736). Wahhabism, a puritan branch of Sunni Islam, was founded by al-Wahhab in a poor part of Arabia called Najd. Saudi armies helped to spread Wahhabi Islamic reform. [see 1744]
(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A18)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(www.concise.britannica.com)
1710 Muhammad Ibn Saud was born in Arabia.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1722 Oct 12, Shah Sultan Husayn surrendered the Persian capital of Isfahan to Afghan rebels after a seven month siege. Mir Wais' son, Mir Mahmud of Afghanistan, had invaded Persia and occupied Isfahan. At the same time, the Durranis revolted, and terminated the Persian occupation of Herat.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(HN, 10/12/98)
1728 The French Count de Boulainvilliers wrote a life of Muhammad that described him as "an enlightened and wise lawgiver."
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)
1744 In Arabia Muhammad Ibn Saud, local ruler of Ad-Dar'ia forged a political and family alliance with Muslim scholar and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1773 Riyadh fell to Abdul Aziz.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1792 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (b.1793), conservative Islamic theologian, died. He founded Wahhabism and set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity" (1736). In 2004 Natana J. Delong-Bas authored “Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad."
(www.concise.britannica.com)(WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)
1803 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, son of Abdul Aziz, captured the Holy City of Makkah.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1814 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz died. Prior to his death Muhammad Ali Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, retook Hijaz, captured the son of Saud ibn Abdul Aziz and executed him in Istanbul.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1815 Commodores Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge conducted successful operations against the Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
(WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A22)
1820s The last jihad started by mullahs alone forced the Persian Empire to war against Christian Russia. Persia lost the Caucasus.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
1824 The Saud family established a new capital at Riyadh. Turki, a cousin of Saud bin Abdul Aziz and emir of Nejd, retook Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1857 The 1st madrasah, religious school, was founded in Deoband, India, in the wake of a jihad against British colonial government.
(WSJ, 10/2/01, p.A1A14)
1860s-1890s The Saud family moved to exile in Kuwait when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1865 Faisal bin Turki, the successor of Turki, died. He won control of most of Nejd and Hasa by the time of his death.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1891 Muhammad bin Rashid, a tribal leader in Hail, captured Riyadh. Rashid had already taken much of Saud territory and concluded a pact with Turkey. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, leader of the Al Saud family, was forced to leave.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1893 Jan 9, Mohara, Arab ivory and slave trader, died in battle and was eaten.
(MC, 1/9/02)
1893 Mar 9, Congo cannibals killed 1000s of Arabs.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1899 Nov 24, Abdullah ibn Mohammed al-Ta'a'ishi, Mahdi of Sudan (1883-99), died.
(MC, 11/24/01)
1902 Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud) recaptured Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1906-1926 Saudi forces captured the Al Hasa, Asir and Al Hijaz regions, unifying much of Arabia under Saudi rule.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1916 Oct 16, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) met with Fasal Hoessein.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1920 Apr 4, Arabs attacked Jews in Jerusalem.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1930 Oct 20, A British White Paper restricted Jews from buying Arab land.
(MC, 10/20/01)
1930 Ali Ahmed Said, poet later known as Adonis, was born in Syria. He became a naturalized Lebanese citizen in 1960. His work included the 1970's poem "The Funeral of New York," and the book "Transformations of the Lover" (1984).
(SSFC, 9/30/01, DB p.63)
1932 Abdul Aziz proclaimed the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was named after King Ibn Saud, founder of the Saudi dynasty. Abdul Aziz al-Saud fathered 44 sons.
(SFC, 9/1/96, z1 p.2)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC, 5/26/00, p.D3)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1937 Sep 8, The Pan Arab conference about Palestine opened.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1938 Mar 15, Aramco made the first commercial oil find in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The English Arabist, H. St. John Philby, orchestrated the Aramco concession in Saudi Arabia.
(HN, 3/15/98)(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.T3)
1940 Mar 23, The All-India Muslim League called for a Muslim homeland.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1945 Mar 22, The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. Saudi Arabia became a founding member of the UN and the Arab League.
(AP, 3/22/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1946 Egypt's King Farouk hosted the 1st Arab summit. The group resolved to thwart the birth of Israel.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A10)
1947 Feb 7, Arabs and Jews rejected a British proposal to split Palestine.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1947 Arab students, influenced by national socialist movements in Europe, founded the Baath Party. Satia al-Husri, father of Ba'athism, was a disciple of German philosopher Johann Fichte.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/8/03, p.D4)
1948 Feb 22, An Arab bomb attack in Jerusalem killed 50 people.
(MC, 2/22/02)
1948 Apr 10, Jewish Hagana repelled an Arab attack on Mishmar HaEmek.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1948 Dec 8, Jordan annexed Arabic Palestine. The old city of East Jerusalem came under Jordanian control until 1968. Transjordan was given to a client Arab family, the Hashenites (led by King Hussein's grandfather), and was run out of Mecca by the Saudis.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(WSJ, 4/9/97, p.A14)(MC, 12/8/01)
1949 Dec 9, UN took trusteeship over Jerusalem.
(HN, 12/9/98)
1949 Dec, The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established to serve Palestinian Arabs.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A10)
1950 The Muslim Tablighi Ijtimah (Congregation of Preaching) movement was founded in India. They believed Islam should be spread by setting a good example, one of modesty and non-violence.
(SFC, 11/3/01, p.A7)
1951 Jul 20, Jordan's King Abdullah Ibn Hussein was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian extremist. Prince Hussein (15) witnessed the murder. Talal became king with the assassination of his father, Abdullah ibn-Hussein, who ruled when Jordan was a British mandate.
(AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(MC, 7/20/02)
1952 Aug 23, Arab League security pact went into effect.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1954 Oct 29, In Egypt Colonel Nasser disbanded the Moslem Brothership.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1955 Apr 16, Abdullah Seif el-Islam, brother of Yemenite king Ahmed, was beheaded.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1956 Jan 16, Egyptian Pres. Nasser pledged to reconquer Palestine. His government made Islam the state religion.
(HN, 1/16/99)(MC, 1/16/02)
1956 Saddam Hussein joined the Arab Baath Socialist Party.
(WSJ, 1/20/02, p.A13)
1958 Feb 14, The Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan formed under Iraq's Faisal II. King Hussein forged a federation with Iraq, which was led by his cousin, Faisal II. The federation failed when Faisal was killed during a revolution in Iraq.
(HNQ, 8/20/00)(MC, 2/14/02)
1958 Jul 14, Gen. Abdul Karim al-Kassem assassinated Faisal II with his son and premier. Karim proclaimed a republic and Jordan's Col. Saddam Hussein succeeded Faisal as head of state. Faisal II, Hashemite King of Iraq (1939-58), was assassinated at Baghdad and Noeri el-Said, premier of Iraq, was murdered. Mohammed Hadid (d.1999 at 92) served as the first finance minister under the government of Abdel Karim Qassem.
(PCh, 1992, p.963)(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A22)(AP, 7/14/97)(USAT, 3/24/99, p.18A) (SFC, 8/6/99, p.D4)(MC, 7/14/02)
1958 Jul 20, King Hussein of Jordan broke off diplomatic relations with UAR.
(MC, 7/20/02)
1958 Aug 1, Saddam Hussein dissolved the Arab Federation.
(PCh, 1992, p.963)
1959 A group of Palestinians met in Kuwait and formed Fatah. Yasser Arafat became the group’s leader.
(WSJ, 11/11/04, p.A18)
1960 Nov 14, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), formed.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1963 Mar, In Syria the Baath party stage a coup. Hafez Assad played an important role.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
1963 Iraq renounced its claim laid to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)
1963 There was an Army-led coup in Iraq. The Arab Baath Socialist Party pulled off the coup and ruled Iraq for 9 months.
(HNQ, 6/20/99)(SFC, 8/6/99, p.D4)
1964 Jan 17, The PLO charter was put together with articles that proclaimed Israel an illegal state and pledged "the elimination of Zionism in Palestine." The PLO was founded in Egypt.
(SFC, 12/11/98, p.A18)(SFC, 4/30/02, p.A8)
1966 In Egypt Sayyid Qutb, intellectual godfather of radical Islamism, was executed by Nasser. Qutb had earlier written: "A Muslim has no nationality except his belief."
(WSJ, 3/22/04, p.A18)
1967 Dec 14, Israel submitted to the United Nations a five-year plan to solve the Arab refugee problem conditioned on a general peace settlement between Israel and the Arab states.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1968 The Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-GC) was founded by Dr. George Habash, founder of the pan-Arab nationalist movement.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1968 The PFLP-GC hijacked an El Al jetliner.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1969 Feb 18, PLO (PFLP-GC) machine-gunned an El-Al plane in Zurich, Switzerland.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)(MC, 2/18/02)
1970 Sep 6, Palestinian guerrillas of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-GC) seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated. This triggered a civil war in and the expulsion of Palestinians from Jordan.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)(AP, 9/6/97)
1970 The PFLP-GC planted a time bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv. All 47 aboard were killed.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1970s The Islamic Jihad was founded in Egypt by Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip. Nafez Azzam was one of the founders. Control was later moved to Iran with training and funding from Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Leaders included Ramadan Shalah and Abdullah Shami.
(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A12)
1970s The Takfir wal Hijra ideology was developed in Egypt by Ahmed Mustaph Chawqui. The theorists openly advocated using immigration as a Trojan horse to expand jihad (holy war).
(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A16)
1973 Mar 2, Arab commandos, "Black September" terrorists, led by Abu Jihad executed 3 hostages: US ambassador Cleo A. Noel (54), deputy George Curtis Moore (47) and Belgian charge d’affaires Guy Eid (38), in Khartoum, Sudan. Pres. Nixon refused their demands. The operation was later reported to have been organized by Yasser Arafat.
(WSJ, 1/10/02, p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_diplomatic_assassinations)
1973 Oct 22, The UN Security Council Resolution 338 called for a cease fire to the Yom Kippur War.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1973 Oct 23, A U.N. sanctioned cease-fire officially ended the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria.
(HN, 10/23/98)
1973 Oct 24, The UN organized a cease fire for the Arab-Israeli War. Yom Kippur War ended. Israel was 65 miles from Cairo and 26 from Damascus. [see Oct 22,23]
(TL-MB, p.21)(MC, 10/24/01)
1973 Nov 28, Arab League summit in Algiers recognized Palestine.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1973 Hassan Turabi, Sudanese scholar, authored "Women in Islam and Muslim Society."
(www.soundvision.com/Info/women/turabi.asp)
1973 Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas, founded Al-Mujamma Al-Islami (the Islamic Association), an Islamic charity group.
(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A1)
1973 OPEC oil embargo. Oil prices were increased fourfold. Japan experienced its first oil crises with the Middle East war. The US experienced a gasoline shortage.
(WSJ, 4/24/95, p.R-5)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1974 Oct 30, An Arab summit in Rabat, Jordon, decided that King Hussein would no longer speak for the Palestinians and named the PLO under Yasir Arafat as the sole, legitimate representative.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_rabat_1974.php)
1975 Jun 18, Faisal Ibn Mussed Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, was beheaded in a Riyadh shopping center parking lot for killing his uncle the king.
(MC, 6/18/02)
1976 Jun 16, U.S. Ambassador Francis E. Meloy, Jr. was murdered along with his associate Robert Waring, an American economic advisor. The two had been en route to a meeting with Lebanese president-elect Elias Sarkis when they were abducted by Muslim guerillas in Beirut.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1976 Dec 25, 100 Moslems, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, died when their boat, the Egyptian SS Patria, sank in the Red Sea.
(HN, 12/25/98)(MC, 12/25/01)
1977 Mar 9, About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in Washington D.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later.
(AP, 3/9/98)
1977 Nov 20, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to address Israel's parliament.
(AP, 11/20/97)
1977 Scholars Patricia Crone and Michael Cook authored "Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
1979 Apr 1, Iran proclaimed to be an Islamic Republic after the fall of the Shah.
(OTD)
1979 Jun 16, Moslem Brotherhood killed 62 sheiks in Aleppo, Syria.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1979 Saddam Hussein executed some 500 rival party leaders. This was most of the leadership of the Baathist Party. Said Aburish, author of "A Brutal Friendship: The West and the Arab Elite Against the Arab People," was quoted on the execution in 2002. Aburish also later authored a biography of Hussein.
(SFC, 2/7/02, p.A14)(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)
1979 Osama bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, where he laid the groundwork for his al Qaeda network.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1980 Feb 2, Reports surfaced that the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as "Abscam," a codename protested by Arab-Americans.
(AP, 2/2/00)
1980 Fouad Ajami, published "The Arab Predicament," and established his reputation as an astute observer of modern Arab societies. He pointed to the 2 pivotal problems of modern Arabs: their encounter with western modernity, and their relationship with Israel.
(SFC, 5/12/98, p.D4)
1980s Ayman Al-Zawahri fled from Egypt after he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for belonging to an outlawed group. He later met Osama bin Laden and became the "emir" of the Islamic Jihad.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1981 Oct 6, Egyptian Pres. Anwar Sadat was killed by Islambouli, an Islamic fundamentalist (Takfir wal Hijra) and Egyptian army lieutenant, at the parade ground of Nasser City during a ceremony commemorating the Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Although authorities were warned of a death plot hours earlier, the information did not get to the president in time. He was succeeded by Vice President Hosni Mubarak. The events are described in a book by Fouad Allam: "The Brotherhood and I." In 2000 Mohammad Khan produced the film "Days of Sadat," starring Ahmed Zaki.
(HFA, '96, p.40) (TMC, 1994, p.1981)(SFC, 4/26/96, p.A-12)(HNQ, 7/12/98)(HN, 10/6/98)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A16)
1981 Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged in 5 other Arab monarchies to form the Gulf Co-operation Council.
(Econ, 11/20/04, p.90)
1982 Jun 2, An Abu Nidal hit team shot Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov in the head in London. Argov survived.
(WSJ, 8/20/02, p.A18)
1982 Sep 8, Abu Nidal gunmen made a machine gun attack on diners at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant on rue de Rosiers in Paris. 6 people were killed and 22 wounded.
(WSJ, 8/20/02, p.A18)
1983 Nov 25, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced a cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1985 May 20, Israel exchanged 1,150 Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers.
(www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/19631988.htm)
1985 Nov 23, Egypt Air flight 648 was hijacked to Malta by Palestinian militant Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist group.
(SFC, 7/20/96, p.A6)(SFEC, 10/8/96, D1)(MC, 11/23/01)
1986 Feb 19, Jordan King Hussein severed ties with the PLO.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1986 May 15, In Sudan Francis Bok was kidnapped when Arabs from a government-armed militia swept into his village shooting the men and cutting off their heads with swords.
(WSJ, 5/23/02, p.A1)
1986 Osama bin Laden began building a tunnel complex under mountains in Afghanistan near Pakistan as part of a CIA-funded project.
(SSFC, 5/9/04, p.M6)
1987 Aug 25, Saudi Arabia denounced Iran's government as a "group of terrorists," and said its forces would deal firmly with any Iranian attempts to attack the Saudis' Muslim holy places or vast oil fields.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1987 Dec 8, The "intifadah" (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza began.
(AP 12/8/97)(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A17)
1988 Apr 16, Abu Jihad, [Khalil al-Wazzir], PLO-leader, was murdered. The Palestine Liberation Organization accused Israel of assassinating al-Wazir, a top PLO military figure, in Tunisia. Palestinians reacted angrily, and at least 14 were shot and killed by Israeli troops during clashes in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank.
(AP, 4/16/98)(MC, 4/16/02)
1988 Jul 18, Abu Nidal terrorists killed 9 on the City of Poros cruise ship.
(MC, 7/18/02)
1988 Dilip Hiro authored "Islamic Fundamentalism."
(FT, 12/14/02, p.V)
1988 Hamas published a manifesto calling for a holy war to create an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel. It challenged the PLO's claim as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
(SFC, 3/23/04, p.A11)
1989 In Afghanistan Osama bin Laden formed al Qaeda.
(SSFC, 5/9/04, p.M6)
1989 In Peshawar, Pakistan, Abdulla Yusuf Azzam, a Palestinian intellectual, was assassinated in a car bombing reportedly ordered by Osama bin Laden for suspected CIA ties.
(SFC, 8/19/98, p.A16)
1991 Oct 31, On the second day of the Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Arab delegates clashed bitterly over land issues.
(AP, 10/31/01)
1991 A Saudi businessman started the 1st independent Arabic news and entertainment channel, the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Co.
(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)
1991 Sami Al-Arian, an engineering professor at the Univ. of South Florida, raised $100,000 from Saudi Arabian donors to start the "World and Islam Studies Enterprise" (WISE).
(WSJ, 10/1/01, p.A1)
1992 Jan 25, Mahmoud Riad, sec-gen of Arab League (1972-79), died.
(MC, 1/25/02)
1992 Dec 17, Israel ordered the deportation of 418 suspected Muslim fundamentalists from the occupied territories.
(AP, 12/17/02)
1992 Harkat-ul Jihadi-e-Islami (HUJEI) was formed with funds from al-Qaeda with the goal of creating an Islamic state in Bangladesh.
(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A20)
1992 In Yemen 2 hotel bombs directed at US servicemen killed 2 Australians. The bombing was later linked to Osama bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi family. He was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10,12)
1992 Ramzi Yousef, nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, dispatched from Pakistan a childhood friend Abdul Hakim Murad to the US to begin plotting the 1st World Trade Center attack.
(WSJ, 8/6/04, p.A6)
1993 Mar 24, Mahmoud Abouhalima, a cab driver implicated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was flown back to the United States from Egypt. Abouhalima was later convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 3/24/03)
1993 Jul 27, Israeli guns and aircraft pounded southern Lebanon in reprisal for rocket attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1993 Sep 14, Israel and Jordan signed a framework for negotiations, a day after the signing of a PLO-Israeli peace accord.
(AP, 9/14/03)
1993 Nov 25, Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Sedki escaped an attempt on his life when Islamic militants detonated a car bomb near his motorcade. The attack killed a 5-year-old girl. Yasser al-Siri, a member of the "media committee" of the Islamic Jihad, was tried and convicted in absentia for the assassination attempt. Siri fled to the UK and obtained political asylum.
(HN, 11/25/98)(WSJ, 10/26/01, p.A19)
1993 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri became head of the Egyptian Jihad.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A1)
1993 Osama Bin Laden was suspected of supplying weapons to Somalia to shoot down American helicopters.
(SFC, 8/17/98, p.A12)
1993 Muhammad Atef, a top Osama bin Laden lieutenant, and 6 other al Qaeda operatives, set up training camps in Somalia to help Somali tribes oppose a UN peacekeeping operation.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A13)
1993 The Rome-based Orbit, financed by Saudi interests, launched its own communications satellite.
(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)
1994 Sep 15, An Arab Charter on Human Rights was adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States.
(www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/international/hr1994.htm)
1994 The family of Osama bin Laden disowned him. The Binladin Group later invested with the Washington-based Carlyle Group, which also employed George Bush Sr.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1995 Jan 9, In New York, trials began for Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 11 other defendants accused of conspiring to wage a holy war against the United States. Nine were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and two reached plea agreements with the government.
(AP, 1/9/00)
1995 Nov 19, A suicide bomber self-destructed in the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad and killed 15 others. 59 were wounded. Islamic militants opposed to the Cairo regime claimed responsibility.
(WSJ, 11/20/95, p.A-1)(MC, 11/19/01)
1995 Libya declared jihad against NATO, but no concrete action was taken.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
1996 May, Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan.
(SFC, 8/21/98, p.A2)
1996 Jun 25, At least 23 Americans were killed at a US base near Dhahran. another 105 suffered serious injuries from a truck bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds at the Khobar Towers apartment complex adjacent to King Abdul Aziz Air Base. About 5,000 US troops served in Saudi Arabia. US, French and British aircraft resumed flying 100 missions per day over southern Iraq from Saudi Arabia. In 1997 intelligence information tied a senior Iranian intelligence officer to Hani Abd Rahim Sayegh, a man who fled Saudi Arabia shortly after the bombing. In 1999 the US threatened was set to deport Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia. Sayegh feared torture and asked for US asylum. Sayegh was deported Oct 10. In 2000 Ahmad Behbahani told a 60 Minutes journalist from a refugee camp in Turkey that he proposed the Pan Am operation and coordinated the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 13 Saudis and one Lebanese man were indicted for the bombing that killed 19 American airmen and wounded nearly 400 others.
(USAT, 6/26/96, p.1A)(WP. 6/29/96, p.A22)(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.A14)(WSJ, 10/5/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C16)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A9)(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A1)
1996 re: Jun 25, Later reports said that Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi billionaire, bankrolled the bombing of the US base that killed 19 US servicemen. He was an advocate of strict Islamic rule and had said that he would campaign to overthrow the Saudi royal family. He had lived in the Sudan for 5 1/2 years and recently moved to Afghanistan and was accepted by the Taliban. In 1998 a senior Saudi official absolved Iran of any involvement in the bombing. In 2000 it was reported that the Bin Laden family firm was awarded the contract to rebuild the Khobar Towers.
(SFC, 3/7/97, p.A17)(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC, 11/18/00, p.A12)
1996 Aug, Osama bin Laden signed a fatwa authorizing Muslims to attack American military personnel.
(WSJ, 10/3/01, p.A17)
1996 Nov, The independent Arab Al-Jazeera TV news network began operating from Qatar. In 2002 Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar authored "Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East."
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A21)(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.M1)
1996 Dec 1, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, crossed into Russia on his way to Chechnya as a possible base of operations. He was soon arrested by Russian police in Dagestan.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1996 Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, an al Qaeda insider, defected to the US and began to describe the extent of Osama bin Laden's terrorist plans.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A14)
1996 A plot to bomb the US Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, was broken up. It was planned by Marwan al Safadi, a Lebanese national, in revenge for the arrest of Omar Abdel Rahman.
(WSJ, 11/16/01, p.A10)
1997 May 24, In Afghanistan forces of the Taliban swept into Mazar-E-Sharif, the last opposition stronghold.
(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.A10)
1997 May, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, was released from a Russian jail. He had attempted to get to Chechnya and was arrested in Dagestan and held for 6 months.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A1)
1997 Dec 11, The 55-member Organization of the Islamic conference ended their meeting in Iran with the declaration that "the killing of innocents is strictly forbidden in Islam." The group also called for full respect for the dignity and rights of Muslim women and criticized Israel for "state terrorism."
(SFC,12/12/97, p.B2)
1997 Mohamad Kamal Mustafa, imam of Fuengirola, Spain, authored “Women in Islam," in which he defended a husband’s right to beat his wife.
(WPR, 3/04, p.11)
1998 Jan 9, Ramzi Yousef was sentenced in New York to life in prison for the 1994 bombing of a Philippines airliner and 240 years for masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
(WSJ, 1/4/98, p.R4)
1998 Feb 23, Osama bin Laden declared a holy war on the US. The Al Quds Al-Arabi newspaper published a statement that announced an alliance between Dr. Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, and Osama bin Laden. "We—with God's help—call on every Muslim…to comply with God's order to kill Americans."
(WSJ, 4/2/02, p.A18)(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1998 Jun 25, Albanian security personnel (SHIK) under CIA guidance arrested Shawki Salama Attiya, a Tirana cell forger. Over the next 2 months they made a successful raids on more suspected members of the Egyptian Jihad terrorist organization. The suspected terrorists were turned over to anti-terrorist officials in Egypt, where they delivered forced confessions following torture.
(SFC, 8/13/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A1)
1998 Aug 4, The Egyptian Jihad under Dr. Zawahri denounced the CIA-led arrests in Albania and said Americans should soon receive a response "in the only language that they understand."
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1998 Aug 7, Two powerful bombs exploded at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At least 147 [244,247] people were killed and over 4,800 were injured. 11 [12] of the dead were Americans. In Nairobi at least 53 buildings were damaged. The adjacent Ufundi Cooperative House was demolished and the 22-story Cooperative Bank House had all its windows shattered. Haroun Fazil of the Comoros Islands was later the 3rd bombing suspect to be charged in the Kenya bombing. In 2001 Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali (24) of Saudi Arabia, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27) of Tanzania, Wadi El-Hage (40) of Texas, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (36) of Jordan were convicted on 302 counts.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/99)(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A13)
1998 Aug 7, In 2000 Ali Mohamed, a former US Army sergeant, pleaded guilty for his role in the bombing under the direction of Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A1)(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A1)
1998 Aug 7, In Nairobi Catherine Bwire (25) was one of 25 people blinded by the bombing. She was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter on Oct 27.
(SFC, 11/25/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 7, In Pakistan Sadik Howaida (34), later named as Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, was detained at the Karachi airport. He reportedly confessed to participating in the bombing in Nairobi. He said that he and 2 coconspirators had left Nairobi and planned to enter Afghanistan a few days before the bombing. He acknowledged that the team was recruited and financed by Osama bin Laden who was ensconced in a fortress-style hideout in Kandahar. Odeh later refused to admit responsibility to American officials.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A17)(SFC, 8/17/98, p.12,17)(SFC, 8/18/98, p.A6)
1998 Aug 8, The Taliban overran Mazar-i-Sharif and killed 9 of 11 diplomats from Iran. 8 of the dead were diplomats, the 9th was a journalist. Later reports indicated that the Taliban killed as many as 4,000 civilians, mostly Hazaras, in a campaign partly designed to wipe out the Shiite Muslim minority.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D4)(SFC, 9/18/98, p.D8)(SFC, 2/19/01, p.A9)
1998 Fouad Ajami, published "The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey," a sequel to his 1980 book but more concerned with Arab literature.
(SFC, 5/12/98, p.D4)
1998 An Egyptian militant, believed to be Ahmed Nasrallah, reported to Yemen’s Political Security Organization on al Qaeda terrorists around the Marib region. The security service tipped off the terrorists.
(WSJ, 12/20/02, p.A1,6)
1998 Samih Toukan founded Maktoob in Amman, Jordan, a software firm dedicated to replacing English with Arabic in e-mail systems. Maktoob.com was the world’s 1st Arab language Web site. In 2000 the firm received a $2.5 million cash injection from an Egyptian investment bank.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A14)(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.C1)
1999 Mar 27, This was the 1st day of the Muslim feast day Id al-Lahma, feast of meat, or Id al-Adha, feast of sacrifice.
(SFC, 3/29/99, p.A7)
1999 May 19, Ali A. Mohamed, a former US Army sergeant, was indicted for conspiring with Osama bin Laden to kill Americans abroad.
(SFC, 5/20/99, p.A2)
1999 Jul 11, In London 2 Egyptian associates of Osama bin Laden were arrested. The fingerprints of Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous (42) and Adel Abdel-Meguid Abdel-Bary (39) were found on statements taking responsibility for the attacks against US embassies in Africa last August.
(SFC, 7/13/99, p.A8)
1999 Ayman Al-Zawahri, "emir" of the Islamic Jihad, was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian military court for organizing an insurgency against the government.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1999 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri stepped down as head of the Egyptian Jihad. He was replaced by Tharwat Salah Shehata, who wanted to focus on the struggle in Egypt.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1999 In Egypt defendants reported during the trial of 107 suspected terrorists that agents of Osama bin Laden had purchased dangerous biological agents through the mail for as little as $3,865."
(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.A20)
1999 Saudi police arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and jailed him for 14 months for maintaining contact with Osama bin Laden. He was then deported to Yemen.
(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2000 Jan, There was a meeting of terrorists in Kuala Lumpur. The US CIA informed the FBI that Khalid Al-Midhar had a US visa. Midhar was later one of the Sep 11, 2001, terrorists.
(SFC, 6/4/02, p.A10)
2000 Feb, In Egypt Ahmed Osman Saleh and Ahmed Ibrahim al-Naggar, members of the Egyptian Jihad, were hanged for their connections to terrorist cases. They had been pulled out of Albania in 1998 by Albanian Security (SHIK) working with the CIA.
(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A10)
2000 Nov 18, Some 2000 women from 19 Arab countries met in Cairo to push for improved status in their male-dominated societies.
(SFEC, 11/19/00, p.C16)
2000 Nov, Metin Kaplan was sentenced in Germany for operating a terrorist organization. His group had planned to bomb Ataturk's mausoleum in Ankara with an airplane packed with explosives on Turkey's 75th anniversary.
(SFC, 2/5/02, p.A9)
2000 Oct 20, Egyptian-born Ali Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who'd served in the Army (1986), pleaded guilty in New York to helping plan the deadly U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. It was later reported that Mohamed, a former Egyptian Army major, had served as an FBI informant.
(AP, 10/20/01)(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A1)
2000 Gilles Kepel authored “Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam."
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
2000 Tharwat Salah Shehata gave up as head of the Egyptian Jihad and Dr. Zawahri resumed control.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
2001 Mar 28, In Jordan an Arab summit convened. Delegates had already approved a draft resolution for the UN to allow Baghdad to fund the Palestinian uprising.
(WSJ, 3/27/01, p.A17)
2001 May 19, The Arab League called on Arab governments to sever political contacts with Israel until the Jewish state ended military action against Palestinians.
(AP, 5/19/02)
2001 Jun, The Egyptian Jihad and al Qaeda drafted "Statement No. 1" under the new name Qaeda-al Jihad Group: "Islam's enemies will soon roast in the same flames that they now play with."
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
2001 Jul 5, An FBI agent in Phoenix wrote to bureau headquarters that al Qaeda could be sending terrorists to train as student pilots. He urged the investigation of Middle Eastern men enrolled in American flight schools.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A19)
2001 Jul 28, Samir Ait Mohamed (32) was detained in Vancouver on immigration charges. On Nov 15 he was arrested on US charges for plotting to bomb the Los Angeles airport during millennium festivities.
(SFC, 11/17/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 28, Jamal Beghal (36), a French-Algerian, was arrested in Dubai, UAR, with a false French passport while traveling to Europe from Afghanistan. He was extradited to France in Sep 30. He told police of a plans to bomb the US Embassy in Paris on orders from Abu Zubaydah, a top bin Laden lieutenant.
(WSJ, 10/3/01, p.A18)(SFC, 10/23/01, p.A5)
2001 Aug 1, In Indonesia Taufik Abdul Halim, a member of the Malaysian Mujahedeen Group, blew off his lower right leg at a Jakarta shopping mall when a bomb he carried exploded prematurely. Halim was linked to Dedi Setiono (Abbas), who was linked to Hambali (Riduan Isamuddin), operations leader of Jemaah Islamiah.
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.A16)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A14)
2001 Aug 6, US intelligence told Pres. Bush that al Qaeda might try to hijack American planes. The report was based on 1998 data.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A1,19)
2001 Aug 16, Zacarias Moussaoui (33), a French citizen of Moroccan descent, was arrested in Minneapolis on immigration charges. He was taking lessons on flying Boeing jets with no interest in taking off or landing. He was later suspected as a 5th member of one of the Sep 11 WTC attack teams. In Nov the FBI reported that Moussaoui wanted to learn how to take off and land but not to fly. Mueller also said Ramzi Omar of Yemen, aka Ramsi Binalshibh, may have been the 20th hijacker.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A7)(SFC, 11/15/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/4/02, p.A1)
2001 Aug 21, The CIA placed Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi under suspicion as part of the investigation in the bombing of the destroyer Cole in Yemen. The 2 were among the hijackers who commandeered the jet that hit the Pentagon on Sep 11.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A19)
2001 Sep 1, The US issued a 34 cent stamp featuring Arabic calligraphy that says "Eid Mubarek," a greeting used to celebrate the 2 holiest Islamic holidays, Aid al-Fitr for the end of Ramadan fasting, and Eid al-Adha for the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
(SFC, 11/30/01, p.A8)
2001 Sep 9, In the UAR Mustafa Ahmed al Hissawi, an associate of Osama bin Laden, retrieved about $5,000 sent by Marwan al Shehhi, a UAE citizen believed to be the Sep 11 pilot of US Flight 175.
(WSJ, 11/2/01, p.A13)
2001 Sep 11, 8:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 carrying 92 people, crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center in NYC. It was enroute from Boston to LA.
9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 carrying 65 people, crashed into the South Tower of the WTC. It was enroute from Boston to LA.
9:38 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 carrying 64 people, crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. It was enroute from Washington DC to LA.
9:40 a.m. The FAA grounded all domestic flights and ordered all airborne craft to land immediately.
10:00 a.m. The South Tower of the WTC collapsed.
10:10 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 45 people, crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. The plane had left Newark for SF but was believed to be directed by hijackers to Camp David. Passengers appeared to have overcome the hijackers.
10:29 a.m. The North Tower of the WTC collapsed.
5:25 p.m. Building 7 of the WTC complex collapsed. Four groups of terrorists used knives, hijacked 4 airplanes, and were suspected to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization and appeared to be a franchise operation.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A6,10,12)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/01, p.A6)
2001 Sep 11, World leaders expressed outrage at terrorist attacks in NYC and the Pentagon and pledged solidarity with the US. In the West Bank town of Nablus, some 3,000 people celebrated the attacks and chanted "God is great."
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 11, The terrorist attacks threatened to prompt a global recession. Thousands of people were stranded and air cargo was paralyzed as the FAA grounded all US flights.
(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1,3)
2001 Sep 19, Imad Mughniyeh, Lebanese head of Hezbollah overseas operations, and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, a senior bin Laden aide, were named in a Jane's Foreign Report as possible masterminds for the Sep 11 attacks in addition to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A20)
2001 Sep 25, Interpol issued a bulletin for the arrest of Ayman al-Zawahri (50), an Egyptian surgeon believed to be Osama bin Laden's closest al Qaeda associate in Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A8)
2001 Oct 2, The US gave Nato "clear and compelling" evidence that Osama bin Laden orchestrated the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 10/3/01, p.A4)
2001 Oct 6, Pres. Bush warned Afghanistan's rulers that time is running out. The Taliban said it would release 8 aid workers if the US "stops issuing threats" of military action.
(SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 6, US and British intelligence identified Mohammed Atef, a former Egyptian policeman and close aide to Osama bin Laden, as the key planner of the of the Sep 11 attacks.
(SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A5)
2001 Oct 7, US and British forces struck 31 targets in Afghanistan. 40 warplanes, 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-2 Stealth bombers, B-1 lancers, B-52s, F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were used against air defenses, communication nodes and other large fixed target sites. Airdrops of food were also made. The Taliban later claimed that 8-20 civilians were killed in the attacks.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A1)(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 7, In Afghanistan the Northern Alliance moved its front line artillery and infantry units against the Taliban.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A5)
2001 Oct 7, The Al-Jazeera TV network from Qatar showed video footage of Osama bin Laden praising Allah for the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.G1)
2001 Oct 7, Sulaiman Bhughaith, a Kuwaiti Islamist, emerged in Afghanistan as a spokesman for Osama bin Laden.
(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 9, Qatar's Al-Jazeera broadcast a taped video of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, an al Qaeda spokesman, who called on Muslims to attack US interests worldwide.
(SFC, 10/10/01, p.A10)
2001 Oct 10, The 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference, called by Iran, issued a communique that sidestepped US action in Afghanistan: "The conference rejected the targeting of any Islamic or Arab state under the pretext of fighting terrorism."
(SFC, 10/11/01, p.A7)
2001 Oct 30, Yasser al-Siri, an Egyptian activist, was charged in London in connection with the assassination in Afghanistan of Ahmed Shah Massood, a Northern Alliance leader. [see Egypt, Nov 25, 1993]
(SFC, 10/31/01, p.A4)
2001 Nov 1, In Pakistan a statement attributed to bin Laden accused the government of supporting a Christian crusade and urged people to defend their faith.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A3)
2001 Nov 2, It was reported that Ibrahim Bah, a Libyan-trained former Senegalese rebel, lived in Burkina Faso and selected diamond dealers to handle deals in Liberia between rebels from Sierra Leone and the al Qaeda network.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A8)
2001 Nov 3, The Al-Jazeera TV network broadcast a videotape from Osama bin Laden. He portrayed that attacks against Afghanistan as a war against Islam and denounced Arab leaders who cooperate with the UN for peace negotiations saying that amounted to a renunciation of Islam.
(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A5,8)
2001 Nov 4, It was reported that the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur cited bin Laden as possibly possessing an arsenal of biochemical weapons. US intelligence sources were cited that bin Laden purchased laboratories from the former Yugoslavia, Ebola virus from former Soviet stockpiles, botulism from the Czech Republic, anthrax from North Korea and the assistance of chemists and biologists from the Ukraine.
(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A25)
2001 Nov 9, In Afghanistan Northern Alliance forces claimed the capture of Mazar-e-Sharif.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 9, Jordan's King Abdullah II said his country would consider sending troops to Afghanistan to help the anti-terrorism coalition.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A3)
2001 Nov 9, A Pakistani newspaper published an interview with Osama bin Laden in which he claimed to have chemical and nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A5)
2001 Nov 9, In Pakistan police in Dera Ghazi Khan shot and killed 4 protesters during a strike called by extremist religious parties.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A5)
2001 Nov 13, Spanish police arrested 11 people with suspected links to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 11/14/01, p.A6)
2001 Nov 18, In Spain 8 men, Soldiers of Allah, detained last week were reported to be members of the al Qaeda network and to have played a role in the Sep 11 attacks.
(SFC, 11/19/01, p.A5)(SFC, 11/20/01, p.A7)
2001 Nov 19, It was reported that 400 Afghan Taliban soldiers were killed while trying to defect last week. Defectors continued to stream out of Kunduz as US war planes continued to bomb Taliban positions.
(SFC, 11/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 19, Egypt and Syria confirmed the extradition of Rifai Ahmed Taha, a former aide to Osama bin Laden, from Syria to Egypt.
(SFC, 11/20/01, p.A12)
2001 Nov 20, Abu Qatada (40), a Muslim cleric living in London, was named in a Spanish indictment as a pivotal figure in the al Qaeda network in Europe.
(SFC, 11/21/01, p.A11)
2001 Nov 28, It was reported that Hezbollah's TV channel, al-Manar, was one of 4 Arabic language cable stations available in Paraguay.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Nov, An al-Qaeda computer was acquired by a Wall Street journalist in Kabul for $1,100 following US bombing. It was found to contain numerous memos of al Qaeda activities including weapons programs.
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A10)
2001 Nov, A treatise by Ayman al Zawahri was smuggled out of Afghanistan. It was published in Dec by an Arabic language newspaper in London.
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A10)
2001 Dec 26, The Al Jazeera Arab network broadcast a new video-taped statement from Osama bin Laden that appeared to have been made in late Nov or early Dec. "Our terrorism is benign." The al-Qaida leader condemned the United States as a nation that committed crimes against millions of Afghans.
(SFC, 12/27/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/25/02)
2001 Ansar al-Islam, blamed for attacks in Iraq and supported by a network of members in Europe, was founded in late 2001 in Kurdish part of northern Iraq by Mullah Krekar, who had lived as refugee in Norway since 1991.
(AP, 1/8/05)
2002 Feb 1, It was reported that Riduan Isamuddin (36), an Indonesian cleric known as Hambali, was a Southeast Asian pointman for an al Qaeda network.
(WSJ, 2/1/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 17, In Saudi Arabia a man was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4,750 lashes for having sex with his wife's sister. The woman, who did not consent, was sentenced to 6 months and 65 lashes.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 26, In Pakistan gunmen killed 9 people and wounded over 10 others in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi. The Sunni group Army of the Prophet's Companions was believed responsible.
(SFC, 2/27/02, p.A9)
2002 Mar 8, The Holy Land Foundation filed suit against the US Departments of Justice, Treasury and State for violation of its civil rights and putting it out of business as a suspected conduit for terrorist funds.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 9, In Cairo Arab foreign ministers met and voiced support for a Middle East peace proposal by Saudi Arabia.
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A16)
2002 Mar 27, In Beirut the Arab League opened a summit of its 22 member states.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 28, In Beirut the Arab League committed to accepting Israel as a neighbor under conditions that included the creation of an independent Palestinian state and Israel's full withdrawal from war-won lands.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A15)(AP, 3/28/03)
2002 Apr 4, It was reported that Saddam Hussein of Iraq had raised financial payments to the relatives of suicide bombers from $10k to $25k.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr 6, Arab League ministers in emergency session denounced the Bush administration's handling of the Middle East conflict. Some 15k Jordanians marched in Ibrid. Over 20k marched in Paris and another 20k marched in Rome.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A7)
2002 cApr 12, Arab militant groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood issued a manifesto declaring that Arab governments had betrayed the Palestinians and called holy war "the religious duty of every Muslim."
(SFC, 4/17/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 23, German police arrested 11 suspected Islamic militants during a sweep against Al Tawhid (Divine Unity), a Sunni Muslim and Palestinian movement.
(SFC, 4/24/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 23, Spanish police arrested Mohamed Zouaydi on charges of financing terrorist activities around the world.
(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 25, Russia reported that Khattab, an Arab guerrilla, had been killed in Chechnya.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A14)
2002 May 10, Arab leaders pressed Yasser Arafat to stop suicide bombings as Israel delayed a strike into Gaza.
(SFC, 5/11/02, p.A8)
2002 May 18, The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Abdel Azeem al-Muhajir, a senior al Qaeda leader, that a strike against the US was imminent and that the recent attack in Tunisia was its work.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A3)
2002 May 20, In Lebanon a car bomb killed Jihad Jibril (38), head of local military operations for the PFLP-GC. He was the son of Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril who headed the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, founded in 1968.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
2002 Jun 5, It was reported that US intelligence believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed of Kuwait, a key bin Laden lieutenant, was the mastermind of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 6/5/02, p.A16)
2002 Jun 22, A bin Laden spokesman said in audiotaped remarks from Qatar that Osama bin Laden and his No. 2 man are both alive and well and their al-Qaida network is ready to attack new U.S. targets.
(AP, 6/23/02)(SSFC, 6/23/02, p.A22)
2002 Jul 1, Jordan reported that 11 people, including a Palestinian-Jordanian who fled the American bombing on Osama bin Laden's stronghold in Afghanistan, have been detained in connection with an alleged plot to attack American targets.
(AP, 7/1/02)
2002 Jul 4, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet (41), an Egyptian-born 10-year resident of Irvine, opened fire at Los Angeles' airport. Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov were killed at Israel's El Al ticket counter before Hadayet, born July 4, 1961, was shot to death by a guard.
(AP, 7/5/02)(Reuters, 7/5/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 30, In the Netherlands 8 men were detained for providing financial and logistical services to al Qaeda and for recruiting fighters.
(SFC, 9/3/02, p.A6)
2002 Sep 6, US officials reported that the assets of Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, alleged al Qaeda financier, had been frozen, and that he had been located in Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 9/7/02, p.A8)
2002 Sep 14, In Lackawanna, New York, 5 men of Yemeni descent were charged with supporting foreign terrorist organizations. They reportedly were schooled in the tools of terror, including the use of suicide as a weapon, in camps run by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A 6th member of the cell was arrested in Bahrain.
(AP, 9/15/02)(SFC, 9/17/02, p.A12)
2002 Sep 16, In Singapore authorities announced the arrests of 21 men they identified as members of an extremist Islamic organization. The men were initially detained in August and linked to Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian militant.
(SFC, 9/17/02, p.A12)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A14)
2002 Sep 25, In Pakistan the Islamic Martyrs Brigade (Lashkar Fedayan-e-Islami) held a secret meeting in Peshawar and announced planned suicide attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/27/02, p.A18)
2002 Oct 4, US federal agents arrested 4 suspected al Qaeda terrorists, 3 in Portland and 1 in Detroit. 2 other suspected cell members were overseas.
(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 22, It was reported that special forces in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia had captured 15 Arab militants linked to al Qaeda.
(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A7)
2002 Oct 28, In Jordan an assassin pumped eight shots into Laurence Foley (62), an employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development, outside his home in the first known killing of a Western envoy in Amman. 2 suspects were arrested Dec 14. Abu Musab Zarqawi was suspected in the murder.
(AP, 10/28/02)(WSJ, 12/16/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/10/04, p.A8)
2002 Nov 4, In northwest Yemen 6 al-Qaida suspects were killed when the car they were traveling in blew up in an area where authorities believe the terror group is active. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a suspected al-Qaida leader, was among the dead.
(AP, 11/4/02)(AP, 11/5/02)
2002 Nov 12, An Arab TV station broadcast an audiotape of Osama bin Laden, a voice that U.S. counterterrorism officials said is probably authentic.
(AP, 11/13/02)
2002 Nov 21, Al-Qaida leader Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the network's chief of operations in the Persian Gulf, was reported to have been captured earlier in the month.
(AP, 11/21/02)
2002 Dec 13, Hamas marked its 15th anniversary with a rally that drew some 30,000 supporters in southern Gaza.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A6)
2002 Dec 16, French counter terrorism agents arrested 4 suspected Islamic militants in a Paris suburb. The three Algerians and a Moroccan had an unidentified liquid and an anti-contamination suit.
(AP, 12/17/02)
c2002 Fred M. Donner authored "The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2002 Gilles Kepel authored "Jihad: The Trial of Political Islam."
(WSJ, 3/29/02, p.W10)
2002 Christoph Luxemberg, a pseudonym, authored "The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran. It included new theories on the text meanings and the rise of Islam.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2002 Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar authored "Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East."
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.M1)
2002 Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," authored "The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia."
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.M1)
2002 Olivier Roy authored “Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah." 1st published in French, an updated English version came out in 2004.
(Econ, 10/16/04, p.79)
c2002 Ibn Warraq, the pseudonym of a former Muslim, authored "The Origins of the Koran" and "The Quest for the Historical Mohammad."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2003 Jan 26, Annamarie Schimmel (80), a professor emeritus of Islamic studies at Harvard University who also lectured in Germany and Turkey, publishing more than 100 books died in Bonn.
(AP, 2/2/03)
2003 Feb 11, The purported voice of Osama bin Laden, broadcast over the Al Jazeera network, told his followers to help Saddam Hussein fight Americans.
(AP, 2/12/03)
2003 May 12, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, multiple, simultaneous car bombings at three foreign compounds killed 30 people, including 8 Americans and 9 suicide bombers. The next day Saudi authorities linked Khaled Jehani (29) head of a 19-member al-Qaida team to the carnage. Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, a senior al Qaeda figure, surrendered Jun 26.
(AP, 5/13/03)(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/14/03, p.A1)(SFC, 6/27/03, p.A16)
2003 May 12, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (70), a wealthy philanthropist who held a string of top UN humanitarian posts and was the uncle of the spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam, died in Boston.
(AP, 5/13/03)
2003 Jul 23, Iran acknowledged that it was holding senior al Qaeda figures, but would not identify them.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 23, A raid in Saudi Arabia on Islamic militants left three suspects dead, including an Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani (aka as Zubayr al-Rimi), an al-Qaida figure wanted by the US.
(AP, 9/24/03)
2003 Sep 29, Irshad Manji (34), Canadian author of the recently published: "The Trouble With Islam: A Wake Up Call for Honesty and Change," was reported saying: "I leave my fellow Muslims with a very basic question here: Will we remain spiritually adolescent, caving to cultural pressures to conform or will we finally mature to the full fledged citizens that we are allowed to be in this part of the world?"
(AP, 9/29/03)(WSJ, 1/27/04, p.D8)
2003 Oct 1, US officials identified Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir (29), a Yemeni ex-bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, as al Qaeda's new terror chief.
(WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 18, A new audiotape, purporting to be from Osama bin Laden and promised fresh attacks against the United States.
(AP, 10/19/03)
2003 Nov 25, In Yemen security forces arrested Saudi-born Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal (32), the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the USS Cole, at a hide-out west of the capital, San'a.
(AP, 11/26/03)(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2003 Dec 22, Leaders of Arab countries from the Persian Gulf agreed to form a pact to combat terrorism and praised Washington for planning to transfer power to Iraqis by mid-2004.
(AP, 12/22/03)
2003 The Saudi-owned news channel al-Arabiya was launched from Dubai.
(Econ, 2/26/05, p.25)
2004 Apr 19, Pierluigi Vigna, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said Italian mobsters and Islamic terrorist groups have forged links in arms and drug trafficking.
(AP, 4/20/04)
2004 May 11, A video, posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site, showed the beheading of Nick Berg, an American civilian in Iraq. The execution was carried out to avenge abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, aka Ahmad Fadhil al Khalayeh, was later identified as the beheader. Nick Berg (26) was from West Chester, Pa.
(AP, 5/11/04)(SFC, 5/12/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/04, p.A13)(ST, 5/14/04, p.A17)
2004 Jun 11, A new audiotape, was broadcast on the Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya alleges that a U.S. plan for reform in the Middle East is really a bid to replace Arab leaders. It was believed to be from al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
(AP, 6/12/04)
2004 Aug 6, Saudi officials reported the capture of Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al Zahrani, No. 12 on their list of 26 most wanted terrorism suspects.
(SFC, 8/7/04, p.A10)
2004 Aug 6, Yemeni warplanes and artillery pounded mountain hideouts of an anti-U.S. leader and his followers in a major offensive aimed at ending a six-week conflict that has killed at least 500 people.
(AP, 8/6/04)
2004 Sep 9, Ayman al-Zawahri said in an al Qaeda videotape that the US will be ultimately defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/10/04, p.A14)
2004 Sep 26, Ezzedin Sheikh Khalil, a senior Hamas operative, was killed in a car bombing outside his house in Damascus, the first such killing of a leader of the Islamic militant group in Syria. The hit was claimed by Israeli security officials.
(AP, 9/27/04)(Econ, 10/2/04, p.47)
2004 Sep 27, Lebanon said Ismail Katib, a local al Qaeda operative captured a week earlier, died “of a heart attack" while in police custody.
(WSJ, 9/28/04, p.A1)(Econ, 10/2/04, p.47)
2004 Oct 29, Osama bin Laden appeared in a new video, dropped off at the Pakistan offices of Al-Jazeera television. He claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks and claimed more violence is possible regardless of who wins the US elections. Bin Laden vowed to bleed America to bankruptcy, according to a full transcript of the unaired portions.
(AP, 10/30/04)(SFC, 10/30/04, p.A1)(AP, 11/2/04)
2004 Nov 2, It was reported that some 3,000 Arab intellectuals had signed a petition calling for an int’l. court to try Muslim clerics who encourage terrorism.
(SFC, 11/2/04, p.A3)
2004 Gilles Kepel authored “The War for Muslim Minds."
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
2005 Feb 7, Pakistan, as part of a peace deal in south Waziristan, paid 4 tribal militants a total of $842,000 so they could pay back money received from al Qaeda to fight Pakistani troops.
(WSJ, 2/10/05, p.A10)
2005 Feb 21, The Arab League chief said that Syria will "soon" take steps to withdraw its army from Lebanese areas in accordance with a 1989 agreement. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters shouted insults at Syria and demanded the resignation of their pro-Syrian government in a Beirut demonstration.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Mar 3, An Arab League meeting opened in Cairo. An Arab diplomat said Syria has told Arab countries it needs to keep 3,000 troops and early-warning stations inside Lebanon to maintain its security despite international pressure for a full withdrawal.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 19, In Qatar a suicide car bomb attack on a Doha theater killed one Briton. The next day Qatar blamed an Egyptian for the attack.
(AP, 3/20/05)
2005 May 18, An Internet audiotape was posted, purportedly by al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, In which he justifies the deaths of fellow Muslims in attacks against US troops and their Iraqi allies by saying that jihad, or holy war, dwarfs all other concerns.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 Jun 1, Jerusalem city engineer Uri Shetrit said 88 homes in an Arab neighborhood are marked for demolition to make way for an archaeological park documenting the disputed city's ancient Jewish origins.
(AP, 6/1/05)
2008 Feb, The 22-member Arab League approved restrictive guidelines for satellite channels.
(SFC, 5/27/08, p.A9)
2011 Jan, The Arab world included over 350 million people.
(Econ, 1/22/11, p.15)
2011 May 15, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby was elected the new secretary-general of the Arab League.
(SFC, 5/16/11, p.A2)
2011 May 19, President Barack Obama laid out a new US strategy toward a skeptical Arab world, offering fresh aid to promote democratic change as he seeks to shape the outcome of popular uprisings threatening both friends and foes.
(Reuters, 5/19/11)
2013 Apr 29, Arab League delegates in Washington, DC, proposed a revised peace plan based on a 2002 peace initiative that would allow some Jewish settlements on occupied land to remain part of Israel.
(Econ, 5/11/13, p.41)(http://tinyurl.com/p7qtvph)
2013 Jul 1, Gulf Arab states called on the UN Security Council to meet urgently to prevent a massacre in Homs, as pro-government forces in Syria try to wrest the city from rebels fighting to topple President Assad.
(Reuters, 7/1/13)
2014 Nov 23, Israel's Cabinet approved a contentious bill that officially defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The bill would delist Arabic as an official language. On Nov 24 presentation of the bill before the Knesset was delayed.
(AP, 11/23/14)(SFC, 11/25/14, p.A4)
2014 Andrew Hussey authored “The French Intifada: The Long War Between France and Its Arabs."
(Econ, 2/22/14, p.83)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Arabs, Islam
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Al-Razi, a medieval Arab alchemist, authored "The Secret of Secrets, a compendium of medieval Islamic science.
(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A17)
19k-15kBCE During this period a Semitic group of nomads migrated from Sumer to Canaan and then on to Egypt. They were led by a caravan trader, the Patriarch Abraham, who became the father of the nation of Israel. Ishmael was a son of Abraham had by Hagar. Isaac was a son of Abraham by Sarah. Hebrews trace their lineage through Isaac, Arabs through Ishmael.
(eawc, p.3)(NW, 11/02, p.55)
c500-600 Arabs brought backed home from India the numerals we refer to as Arabic numbers.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, Z1 p.2)
570 Jan 19, Mohammed (d.632), "The Prophet", Islamic founder (Koran), was born into the Quraysh tribe in Makkah. He was orphaned at an early age and found work in a trade caravan. He married a wealthy widow and this gave him the freedom to visit Mount Hira each year to think. His birthday is observed on the 12th day of Rabi ul'Awwal, the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, in a festival known as Mawlid-al-Nabi.
(ATC, p.59)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)(MC, 1/19/02)
610 Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of God.
(ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)
610-632 A Muslim tradition has it that Mohammed one day found that his favorite wife, Aisha, had purchased some cushions decorated with birds and animals. The prophet proclaimed that only God could bestow life and that pale imitations should be avoided. Thus the hadith, or tradition of the prophet, holds that: The house which contains pictures will not be entered by the angels."
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A12)
610-632 During Mohammed's ministry in Mecca and Medina the definition of jihad moved from persuasive proselytism to Muslim war against all infidels.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
622 Jul 16, Islamic Era began. Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
(MC, 7/16/02)
624 Muslims engaged non-believers for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr.
(www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)
630 Mohammad raised an army of 10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship. Mohammad returned from Medina and began the Islamic conquest of Arabia.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)
632 Jun 8, Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. His companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna. Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3) giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sunna also calls for “jihad." The term means struggle, i.e. to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil.
Four contenders stood out to succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood relative. Ali was Mohammad’s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad’s grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor.
(ATC, p.60,63)(HN, 6/8/98)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP, 6/8/03)
Iqra, which means read in Arabic, was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)
In 2001 Minou Reeves, Iranian-born scholar, authored “Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making "
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)
633CE Muhammad's chief clerk collected Mohammad's revelations into one work called the Koran (Quran). Loosely translated it means "recitation." "Whoever witnesses the crescent of the month, he must fast the month." (Koran, al Baqarah 2:185) Ramadan begins the day after the crescent of the new moon is sighted and confirmed by 2 witnesses. Muslims must abstain from food and sex during daylight hours for a month to celebrate the revelation of the Koran to Mohammed. The later Sunnah holy text reported the sayings and deeds of Muhammad. The Muslim beard tradition is from the Sunnah.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 1/7/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A14)
633CE Gen Khalid ibn al-Walid sent a letter to the Persian emperor that said: "Submit to our authority and we shall leave you and your land and go against others. If not, you will be conquered against your will by men who love death as you love life."
(WSJ, 10/19/01, p.W19)
634 Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah (61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an Arabic merchant, Mohammed’s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
(ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)
635CE Damascus was captured by the Muslims.
(ATC, p.78)
636 Jul 23, Arabs gained control of most of Palestine from Byzantine Empire.
(MC, 7/23/02)
636 Aug 15, At the Battle at Yarmuk, east of the Sea of Galilee, Islamic forces beat a Byzantine army and gained control of Syria.
(PC, 1992, p.61)
637CE Muslim armies conquer Mesopotamia.
(ATC, p.78)
640CE Muslim Arabs invaded Armenia and capture Dvin, its principal town.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
640CE The Muslim government began minting coins about this time.
(ATC, p.83)
0642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
0642 Sep 17, Arabs conquered Alexandria and destroyed the great library. Omar, the second caliph, successor of Mohammed, conquered Alexandria, then the capital of world scholarship.
(V.D.-H.K.p.103)(MC, 9/17/01)
644CE Nov 4, Umar of Arabia, the 2nd Caliph of Islam, was assassinated at Medina and was succeeded as caliph by Uthman. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand the Muslim empire. [see Dec 8]
(ATC, p.67)(HN, 11/4/98)(MC, 11/4/01)
644 Dec 8, Omar I, 2nd caliph of Islam, was murdered. [see Nov 4]
(MC, 12/8/01)
652CE Arabs introduced Islam to Afghanistan.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
656CE Uthman appointed members of his own family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman's murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman's cousin and governor of Syria, challenged Ali's right to rule. Ali prepared for war but was murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are called the Sunnis.
(ATC, p.67-68)
c656CE The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
(SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)
657 Jul 26, Mu'awiyan defeated Caliph Ali in the Battle of Siffin in Mesopotamia.
(HN, 7/26/98)
661 Jan 24, Ali ibn Abu Talib, caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the majority Muslim group.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(MC, 1/24/02)
661CE Muawija became caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. His followers were called the Umayyads. Muawija was one of the soldiers who helped capture Damascus and for 25 years he had served as governor of Syria. Muawija began the practice of appointing his own son as the next caliph, and so the Umayyads ruled for the next 90 years. Muslim forces expanded into North Africa and completely conquered Persia. The Islamic Empire continued to expand into Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the Omayyad Caliphs conquered Damascus, they built the palace at Qasr Al-Kharaneh (in Jordan) as a recreational lodge.
(ATC, p.67,78)(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.9)
676CE Cairo was built by the Arabs only 1300 years ago. The name comes from the Egyptian "El Qahir," the name of the planet Mars.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.165)(SFEC, 8/17/97, Z1 p.2)
680 Oct 10, Hussein, grandson of prophet Mohammed, was beheaded. He was killed by rival Muslim forces on the Karbala plain in modern day Iraq. He then became a saint to Shiite Muslims. Traditionalists and radical guerrillas alike commemorate his martyrdom as the ceremony of Ashoura. The 10-day mourning period during the holy month of Muharram commemorates the deaths of Caliph Ali's male relatives by Sunnis from Iraq.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A8)(MC, 10/10/01)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)
685-705CE Abd al Malik, Umayyad caliph, influenced the shaping of Islamic culture. He declared Arabic as the official language of the empire and established a common coinage system that was purely Arabic. They had no images but were inscribed with quotations from the Koran.
(ATC, p.83)
688CE North Africa was conquered by the Muslims under Abd al Malik.
(ATC, p.83)
691 The Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem was built. It contained inscriptions that later were held as the 1st evidence of the Koran.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
c700 Abd al Malik issued the first pure Islamic coins.
(ATC, p.83)
705 Oct 8, Abd al-Malik, caliph of Damascus, died.
(MC, 10/8/01)
711CE The Umayyads with the help of the Berbers in North Africa moved across the Strait of Gibraltar and began the conquest of Spain and Portugal. The Berber leader Tarik crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and began the Muslim conquest of Spain. The word Gibraltar comes from the term Jabal-al-Tarik, which means the hill of Tarik. Gebel-al-Tarik means "Rock of Tarik."
(ATC, p.79)(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)(SFEC, 9/29/96, zone 1 p.2)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France, Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
737 Marwan, an Arab general, captured the Khazar khagan and forced him to pledge support to the Caliphate and convert to Islam.
(TJOK, pages 162-163)
c750 Arab immigrants settled upstream from Soba, the capital of Alwa, and developed a strong new state called Funj.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
750-1258CE Muslim power in Persia was held by the Abbassid family headed by al Abbas. One Abbasid general, Abdullah, invited 80 Umayyad leaders to a banquet where they were killed by Abdullah's men. Only one Umayyad, Abd al Rahman, was able to escape. He fled all the way to Spain where he united the warring Muslin groups there and built a new Umayyad government. So now the Muslims were split in two groups. The Abbassid dynasty of the Moslem Empire ruled Arabia and the eastern empire. All of the caliphs of this era claim descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
(AHD, 1971, p.2)(ATC, p.84)
751CE During a raid into central Asia, the Abbasids captured some Chinese artisans skilled in paper making.
(ATC, p.89)
752CE Abu Jafar al Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, moved the capital to Baghdad.
(ATC, p.85)
756CE May 15, Abd-al-Rahman was proclaimed the emir of Cordoba, Spain. Abd al Rahman united the Umayyad forces in Spain and made the ancient Roman city of Cordoba his new capital.
(ATC, p.95)(HN, 5/15/98)
786 Feb 4, Harun al-Rashid succeeded his older brother the Abbasid Caliph al-Hadi as Caliph of Baghdad.
(HN, 2/4/99)
786 Sep 24, Al-Hadi, Arabic caliph of Islam (185-86), died.
(MC, 9/24/01)
786CE Abd al Rahman began construction of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. It was under construction for 200 years.
(ATC, p.95)
c800-900 The Alawi faith was founded in the 9th century by a Muslim, who declared himself the "gateway" to the divine truth and abandoned Islam.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
800-900 Buran, the wife of the Caliph of Baghdad, had a lavish wedding. The groom was led to a carpet of woven gold and 1,000 pearls were poured over his head in honor of a poet who had described the surface of a glass of white wine as: "pearls scattered like pebbles on a plain of gold."
(SFC, 12/18/96, zz-1 p.8)
800-900 Muhammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi, Arab mathematician and astronomer, wrote his "ab al-jabr w' al muqabalah" (the science of reduction and comparison). The work dealt with solving equations. It was the first time that algebra was discussed as a separate branch of mathematics. In the 12th century it was translated into Latin as "Ludus algebrae et almucgrabalaeque."
(Alg, 1990, p.87)
800-900 Jaber bin Hayyan, an Iraqi polymath, elaborated on algebra (al-jabr) and described "flammable vapours" at the mouths of heated wine vessels.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
809 Mar 24, Harun al-Rashid (44), caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), died.
(MC, 3/24/02)
813 Sep 25, Al-Amin, Arabic Caliph of Islam (809-813), was murdered.
(MC, 9/25/01)
813-833CE Caliph al Ma'mun founded a school in Baghdad called the House of Wisdom. In this school scholars translated Greek philosophy classics into Arabic.
(ATC, p.89)
815 Abu Nawas, Arab poet, died. His odes included verses on Baghdad liquor that was "as hot between the ribs as a firebrand."
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
816 Fatima, sister of the eighth Imam, lies buried in a sanctuary at Qum, one of the sacred cities of the Shia faith.
(NG, 9/1939, p.320)
820 Jan 20, Abu Abdallah Mibn Idris al-Sjafi'i, Islamic author of Book of Mother, died.
(MC, 1/20/02)
883 Mar 8, Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)
838 Jan 4, Babak, Persian social and religious reformer, was martyred.
(MC, 1/4/02)
886CE Under Muslim Arabs the Bagratid family rose to prominence in Armenia and established a line of kings from this time to the 10th century.
(CO Enc. / Armenia)
c900CE By this time the Fatimids broke away from the Abbasids and migrated to North Africa. They were descendants of Mohammad's daughter, Fatima.
(ATC, p.91)
902 Aug 1, The Aghlabid rulers of Ifriqiyah (modern day Tunisia) captured Taormina, Sicily.
(HN, 8/1/98)
904 Jul 31, Arabs captured Thessalonica of the Byzantine Empire.
(HN, 7/31/98)
905 Persian astronomer Al Sufi referred to the Andromeda galaxy as the "Little Cloud."
(NH, 11/96, p.78)
910 Rhazes, an Arab physician, wrote the 1st account of smallpox and proposed the earliest theory of immunity.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
912-961 Abd al Rahman III, Umayyad caliph in Spain, purchased Scandinavian, African and German slaves to serve in his forces. At this time Cordoba was western Europe's largest city with a population of 200,000 people.
(ATC, p.96)
922 Mansur al-Hallaj (b.858), a Sufi mystic, was crucified in Baghdad for pronouncing in the midst of a trance that he was the truth, i.e god.
(SFC, 4/21/04, p.A10)( http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismearly.html#Hallaj)
923 Feb 16, Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari (83), Islamic historian, died.
(MC, 2/16/02)
938-1002 Al-Mansur (the Conqueror), Moorish leader. He was born Abu'Amir al-Ma'asiri and rose to power by wooing the caliph's favorite concubine. He raided Christian Spain and hauled his booty back to Cordoba and built a palace called Madinat al-Zahira, the Shining City.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
962-1030 An Islamic era in Afghanistan was established with the Ghaznavid Dynasty.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
962-1140 Under the Ghaznavid Dynasty Afghanistan became the center of Islamic power and civilization.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
964AD Arab astronomers described the Great Nebula in Andromeda, our closest galaxy.
(V.D.-H.K.p.333)
967 Nov 20, Aboe al-Faradj al-Isfahani, Arabic author (Book of liederen), died.
(MC, 11/20/01)
969 Named El Qahira -"the victorious," Cairo gained power from its position beside the Nile.
(NG, May 1985, R. Caputo, p.603)
969 By this time the Fatimids had conquered most of North Africa and claimed Cairo as their capital.
(ATC, p.91)
976 Oct 1, Al-Hakam II, the caliph of Cordoba, died.
(MC, 10/1/01)
976 The Great Mosque of Cordoba (Spain) was completed and served as a religious, social and educational center. The largest of the 70 libraries in Cordoba contained 500,000 volumes. 70,000 books a year were hand-copied to satisfy the citizen's literary appetites.
(ATC, p.95,98)
980-1037 Avicenna (Ibn Sina, Afghan scientist), the Muslim philosopher-scientist, was born in Bukhara (Balkh). He wrote "The Book of Healing," a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and "The Canon of Medicine," an encyclopedia of the medical knowledge of his time. Both works were translated to Latin and exerted great influence on Scholastics in the West.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(V.D.-H.K.p.115)
994 Nov 7, Muhammad ibn Hazm, historian, jurist, author of Islamic Spain, was born.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1002 Aug 2, Abu Amir Mohammed ibn Abd Allah ibn Mohammed ibn Abi Amir (64) died.
(MC, 8/2/02)
1048 Dec 13, Al-Biruni (74), Arabic royal astrologer, died.
(MC, 12/13/01)
1050 Arabs brought their decimal system to Spain.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1095 Nov 26, Pope Urban urged the faithful to wrest the Holy Land from the Muslims, heralding start of Crusades.
(AP, 11/26/02)
1126 Nov 26, Al-Borsoki, emir of Aleppo-Mosoel (Syria), was assassinated.
(MC, 11/26/01)
1141 Sep 8, Battle of Samarkand (Uzbekistan): Yelutashi defeated Islams.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1147 Oct 25, At the Battle at Doryleum Arabs beat Konrad III's crusaders. Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France had assembled 500,000 men for the 2nd Crusade. Most of the men were lost to starvation, disease and battle wounds.
(PCh, 1992, p.94)(MC, 10/25/01)
1165 Jul 28, Ibn al-'Arabi, Muslim mystic, philosopher, was born.
(SC, 7/28/02)
1187 Oct 2, Sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem from Crusaders.
(MC, 10/2/01)
1191 Aug 20, Crusader King Richard I (1157-1199), Coeur de Lion (the "Lionheart"), executed some 2,700-3,000 Muslim prisoners in Acre (Akko).
(MC, 8/20/02)
1192 Sep 2, Sultan Saladin and King Richard the Lion Hearted signed a cease fire.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1193 Mar 4, Saladin [Salah ed-Din]) Yusuf ibn Ayyub (52), Kurdish sultan of Egypt and Syria (1175-1193), died. Saladin led the Muslims against the Crusaders.
(SSFC, 9/29/02, p.M6)(PC, 1992, p.100)(AP, 3/4/04)
1212 Jul 16, Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa marked the end of Muslim power in Spain.
(MC, 7/16/02)
1218 Aug 31, Al-Malik ab-Adil, Saphadin, Saif al-Din, brother of Saladin, died.
(MC, 8/31/01)
1260 Oct 23,Koetoez, Turkish sultan of Egypt, was murdered.
(MC, 10/23/01)
1289 Apr 29, Qala'un, the Sultan of Egypt, captured Tripoli.
(HN, 4/29/98)
1291 Jul 31, Egyptian Mamelukes (Mamluks) occupied Akko (Akre). The crusaders were driven out of Palestine.
(MC, 7/31/02)(Arch, 7/02, p.19)
1325-1355 Ibn Battuta, a Muslim, left his home in Tangier to journey to Mecca. He traveled in Arabia, Asia, Africa, and Spain and recorded many exciting adventures.
(ATC, p.13)
1331 Ibn Battuta, Arab traveler and scholar, visited Kilwa. He described Kilwa as "one of the most beautiful and well-constructed towns in the world."
(ATC, p.143)
1332 May 27, Ibn Khaldun (d.1406), Arab historian, was born in Tunis. He was also a social scientist and political activist and developed theories on economics and politics. He authored the "Muqaddimah" (introduction to history), that gave an in-depth analysis of the cyclical nature of the rise, maturation and decline of political regimes and economies.
(HN, 5/27/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R20)
1340 Nov 28, In the Battle of Salado, Spain, the last Moor invasion was driven back.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1352 Ibn Battuta decided to cross the Sahara Desert. The journey took two months to complete the 1,200 miles.
(ATC, p.112)
1353 Ibn Battuta spent a few months in Mali and left a full description of his experiences.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
1396 Sep 25, The last great Christian crusade, led jointly by John the Fearless of Nevers and King Sigismund of Hungary, ended in disaster at the hands of Sultan Bajazet I's Ottoman army at Nicopolis.
(HN, 9/25/98)
1396 Sep 26, Sultan Bajezid I beheaded several hundred crusaders.
(MC, 9/26/01)
1400s The Saud dynasty was founded near Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1492 Jan 2, Boabdil, the leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain surrendered to Spanish forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. Sultan Muhammad XI surrendered, ending Muslin rule in Spain. The combined Catholic forces of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile drove out the last of the Berbers from Spain. The Moors were expelled. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella took the town of Grenada, the last Moslem kingdom in Spain. The event became marked by an annual festival that began around 1516.
(ATC, p.73,100)(AP, 1/2/98)(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.T11)(HN, 1/2/99)(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A6)(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.C20)
1502 Feb 1, In Granada Moslems were forced to convert to Catholicism.
(MC, 2/12/02)
1515-1519 Coffee from Arabia appeared in Europe.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1516 Aug 24, At the Battle of Marjdabik, north of Aleppo, the Turks beat Syria. Suliman I, the Ottoman Sultan, routed the Mamelukes (Egypt) with the support of artillery capturing Aleppo and Damascus.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(PC, 1992, p.169)
1518 Algiers and Tunis, Barbary states in North Africa, were founded.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1521 Nov 20, Arabs attributed a shortage of water in Jerusalem to Jews making wine.
(MC, 11/20/01)
1554 Dragut, leader of the Mediterranean pirates, recaptured Mehedia, Tunisia, from the Spaniards.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)
1568 The "Shahnameh" by Firdawsi, as commissioned by Shah Tahmasp was given to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II. By 1903 it was in the hand of Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
(WSJ, p. A-18, 10/13/94)
c1600 Mahmud al-Kati authored the Tarikh al-Fattash, a history of the Sudan up to the late 16th century.
(AM, 7/04, p.36)
1626 Dec 1, Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical governor of Jerusalem, was driven out.
(MC, 12/1/01)
1703 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d.1792), Islamic theologian and founder of Wahhabism, was born in Arabia. He set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity" (1736). Wahhabism, a puritan branch of Sunni Islam, was founded by al-Wahhab in a poor part of Arabia called Najd. Saudi armies helped to spread Wahhabi Islamic reform. [see 1744]
(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A18)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(www.concise.britannica.com)
1710 Muhammad Ibn Saud was born in Arabia.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1722 Oct 12, Shah Sultan Husayn surrendered the Persian capital of Isfahan to Afghan rebels after a seven month siege. Mir Wais' son, Mir Mahmud of Afghanistan, had invaded Persia and occupied Isfahan. At the same time, the Durranis revolted, and terminated the Persian occupation of Herat.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(HN, 10/12/98)
1728 The French Count de Boulainvilliers wrote a life of Muhammad that described him as "an enlightened and wise lawgiver."
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)
1744 In Arabia Muhammad Ibn Saud, local ruler of Ad-Dar'ia forged a political and family alliance with Muslim scholar and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1773 Riyadh fell to Abdul Aziz.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1792 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (b.1793), conservative Islamic theologian, died. He founded Wahhabism and set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity" (1736). In 2004 Natana J. Delong-Bas authored “Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad."
(www.concise.britannica.com)(WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)
1803 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, son of Abdul Aziz, captured the Holy City of Makkah.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1814 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz died. Prior to his death Muhammad Ali Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, retook Hijaz, captured the son of Saud ibn Abdul Aziz and executed him in Istanbul.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1815 Commodores Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge conducted successful operations against the Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
(WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A22)
1820s The last jihad started by mullahs alone forced the Persian Empire to war against Christian Russia. Persia lost the Caucasus.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
1824 The Saud family established a new capital at Riyadh. Turki, a cousin of Saud bin Abdul Aziz and emir of Nejd, retook Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1857 The 1st madrasah, religious school, was founded in Deoband, India, in the wake of a jihad against British colonial government.
(WSJ, 10/2/01, p.A1A14)
1860s-1890s The Saud family moved to exile in Kuwait when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1865 Faisal bin Turki, the successor of Turki, died. He won control of most of Nejd and Hasa by the time of his death.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1891 Muhammad bin Rashid, a tribal leader in Hail, captured Riyadh. Rashid had already taken much of Saud territory and concluded a pact with Turkey. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, leader of the Al Saud family, was forced to leave.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1893 Jan 9, Mohara, Arab ivory and slave trader, died in battle and was eaten.
(MC, 1/9/02)
1893 Mar 9, Congo cannibals killed 1000s of Arabs.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1899 Nov 24, Abdullah ibn Mohammed al-Ta'a'ishi, Mahdi of Sudan (1883-99), died.
(MC, 11/24/01)
1902 Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud) recaptured Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1906-1926 Saudi forces captured the Al Hasa, Asir and Al Hijaz regions, unifying much of Arabia under Saudi rule.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1916 Oct 16, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) met with Fasal Hoessein.
(MC, 10/16/01)
1920 Apr 4, Arabs attacked Jews in Jerusalem.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1930 Oct 20, A British White Paper restricted Jews from buying Arab land.
(MC, 10/20/01)
1930 Ali Ahmed Said, poet later known as Adonis, was born in Syria. He became a naturalized Lebanese citizen in 1960. His work included the 1970's poem "The Funeral of New York," and the book "Transformations of the Lover" (1984).
(SSFC, 9/30/01, DB p.63)
1932 Abdul Aziz proclaimed the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was named after King Ibn Saud, founder of the Saudi dynasty. Abdul Aziz al-Saud fathered 44 sons.
(SFC, 9/1/96, z1 p.2)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC, 5/26/00, p.D3)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1937 Sep 8, The Pan Arab conference about Palestine opened.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1938 Mar 15, Aramco made the first commercial oil find in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The English Arabist, H. St. John Philby, orchestrated the Aramco concession in Saudi Arabia.
(HN, 3/15/98)(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.T3)
1940 Mar 23, The All-India Muslim League called for a Muslim homeland.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1945 Mar 22, The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. Saudi Arabia became a founding member of the UN and the Arab League.
(AP, 3/22/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1946 Egypt's King Farouk hosted the 1st Arab summit. The group resolved to thwart the birth of Israel.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A10)
1947 Feb 7, Arabs and Jews rejected a British proposal to split Palestine.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1947 Arab students, influenced by national socialist movements in Europe, founded the Baath Party. Satia al-Husri, father of Ba'athism, was a disciple of German philosopher Johann Fichte.
(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/8/03, p.D4)
1948 Feb 22, An Arab bomb attack in Jerusalem killed 50 people.
(MC, 2/22/02)
1948 Apr 10, Jewish Hagana repelled an Arab attack on Mishmar HaEmek.
(MC, 4/10/02)
1948 Dec 8, Jordan annexed Arabic Palestine. The old city of East Jerusalem came under Jordanian control until 1968. Transjordan was given to a client Arab family, the Hashenites (led by King Hussein's grandfather), and was run out of Mecca by the Saudis.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(WSJ, 4/9/97, p.A14)(MC, 12/8/01)
1949 Dec 9, UN took trusteeship over Jerusalem.
(HN, 12/9/98)
1949 Dec, The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established to serve Palestinian Arabs.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A10)
1950 The Muslim Tablighi Ijtimah (Congregation of Preaching) movement was founded in India. They believed Islam should be spread by setting a good example, one of modesty and non-violence.
(SFC, 11/3/01, p.A7)
1951 Jul 20, Jordan's King Abdullah Ibn Hussein was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian extremist. Prince Hussein (15) witnessed the murder. Talal became king with the assassination of his father, Abdullah ibn-Hussein, who ruled when Jordan was a British mandate.
(AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(MC, 7/20/02)
1952 Aug 23, Arab League security pact went into effect.
(MC, 8/23/02)
1954 Oct 29, In Egypt Colonel Nasser disbanded the Moslem Brothership.
(MC, 10/29/01)
1955 Apr 16, Abdullah Seif el-Islam, brother of Yemenite king Ahmed, was beheaded.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1956 Jan 16, Egyptian Pres. Nasser pledged to reconquer Palestine. His government made Islam the state religion.
(HN, 1/16/99)(MC, 1/16/02)
1956 Saddam Hussein joined the Arab Baath Socialist Party.
(WSJ, 1/20/02, p.A13)
1958 Feb 14, The Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan formed under Iraq's Faisal II. King Hussein forged a federation with Iraq, which was led by his cousin, Faisal II. The federation failed when Faisal was killed during a revolution in Iraq.
(HNQ, 8/20/00)(MC, 2/14/02)
1958 Jul 14, Gen. Abdul Karim al-Kassem assassinated Faisal II with his son and premier. Karim proclaimed a republic and Jordan's Col. Saddam Hussein succeeded Faisal as head of state. Faisal II, Hashemite King of Iraq (1939-58), was assassinated at Baghdad and Noeri el-Said, premier of Iraq, was murdered. Mohammed Hadid (d.1999 at 92) served as the first finance minister under the government of Abdel Karim Qassem.
(PCh, 1992, p.963)(SFC, 5/27/97, p.A22)(AP, 7/14/97)(USAT, 3/24/99, p.18A) (SFC, 8/6/99, p.D4)(MC, 7/14/02)
1958 Jul 20, King Hussein of Jordan broke off diplomatic relations with UAR.
(MC, 7/20/02)
1958 Aug 1, Saddam Hussein dissolved the Arab Federation.
(PCh, 1992, p.963)
1959 A group of Palestinians met in Kuwait and formed Fatah. Yasser Arafat became the group’s leader.
(WSJ, 11/11/04, p.A18)
1960 Nov 14, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), formed.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1963 Mar, In Syria the Baath party stage a coup. Hafez Assad played an important role.
(WSJ, 6/12/00, p.A30)
1963 Iraq renounced its claim laid to Kuwait.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)
1963 There was an Army-led coup in Iraq. The Arab Baath Socialist Party pulled off the coup and ruled Iraq for 9 months.
(HNQ, 6/20/99)(SFC, 8/6/99, p.D4)
1964 Jan 17, The PLO charter was put together with articles that proclaimed Israel an illegal state and pledged "the elimination of Zionism in Palestine." The PLO was founded in Egypt.
(SFC, 12/11/98, p.A18)(SFC, 4/30/02, p.A8)
1966 In Egypt Sayyid Qutb, intellectual godfather of radical Islamism, was executed by Nasser. Qutb had earlier written: "A Muslim has no nationality except his belief."
(WSJ, 3/22/04, p.A18)
1967 Dec 14, Israel submitted to the United Nations a five-year plan to solve the Arab refugee problem conditioned on a general peace settlement between Israel and the Arab states.
(AP, 12/14/02)
1968 The Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-GC) was founded by Dr. George Habash, founder of the pan-Arab nationalist movement.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1968 The PFLP-GC hijacked an El Al jetliner.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1969 Feb 18, PLO (PFLP-GC) machine-gunned an El-Al plane in Zurich, Switzerland.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)(MC, 2/18/02)
1970 Sep 6, Palestinian guerrillas of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-GC) seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated. This triggered a civil war in and the expulsion of Palestinians from Jordan.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)(AP, 9/6/97)
1970 The PFLP-GC planted a time bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv. All 47 aboard were killed.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
1970s The Islamic Jihad was founded in Egypt by Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip. Nafez Azzam was one of the founders. Control was later moved to Iran with training and funding from Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Leaders included Ramadan Shalah and Abdullah Shami.
(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A12)
1970s The Takfir wal Hijra ideology was developed in Egypt by Ahmed Mustaph Chawqui. The theorists openly advocated using immigration as a Trojan horse to expand jihad (holy war).
(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A16)
1973 Mar 2, Arab commandos, "Black September" terrorists, led by Abu Jihad executed 3 hostages: US ambassador Cleo A. Noel (54), deputy George Curtis Moore (47) and Belgian charge d’affaires Guy Eid (38), in Khartoum, Sudan. Pres. Nixon refused their demands. The operation was later reported to have been organized by Yasser Arafat.
(WSJ, 1/10/02, p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_diplomatic_assassinations)
1973 Oct 22, The UN Security Council Resolution 338 called for a cease fire to the Yom Kippur War.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1973 Oct 23, A U.N. sanctioned cease-fire officially ended the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria.
(HN, 10/23/98)
1973 Oct 24, The UN organized a cease fire for the Arab-Israeli War. Yom Kippur War ended. Israel was 65 miles from Cairo and 26 from Damascus. [see Oct 22,23]
(TL-MB, p.21)(MC, 10/24/01)
1973 Nov 28, Arab League summit in Algiers recognized Palestine.
(MC, 11/28/01)
1973 Hassan Turabi, Sudanese scholar, authored "Women in Islam and Muslim Society."
(www.soundvision.com/Info/women/turabi.asp)
1973 Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas, founded Al-Mujamma Al-Islami (the Islamic Association), an Islamic charity group.
(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A1)
1973 OPEC oil embargo. Oil prices were increased fourfold. Japan experienced its first oil crises with the Middle East war. The US experienced a gasoline shortage.
(WSJ, 4/24/95, p.R-5)(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 216)(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv. Supl)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1974 Oct 30, An Arab summit in Rabat, Jordon, decided that King Hussein would no longer speak for the Palestinians and named the PLO under Yasir Arafat as the sole, legitimate representative.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_rabat_1974.php)
1975 Jun 18, Faisal Ibn Mussed Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, was beheaded in a Riyadh shopping center parking lot for killing his uncle the king.
(MC, 6/18/02)
1976 Jun 16, U.S. Ambassador Francis E. Meloy, Jr. was murdered along with his associate Robert Waring, an American economic advisor. The two had been en route to a meeting with Lebanese president-elect Elias Sarkis when they were abducted by Muslim guerillas in Beirut.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1976 Dec 25, 100 Moslems, returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, died when their boat, the Egyptian SS Patria, sank in the Red Sea.
(HN, 12/25/98)(MC, 12/25/01)
1977 Mar 9, About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in Washington D.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later.
(AP, 3/9/98)
1977 Nov 20, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to address Israel's parliament.
(AP, 11/20/97)
1977 Scholars Patricia Crone and Michael Cook authored "Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
1979 Apr 1, Iran proclaimed to be an Islamic Republic after the fall of the Shah.
(OTD)
1979 Jun 16, Moslem Brotherhood killed 62 sheiks in Aleppo, Syria.
(MC, 6/16/02)
1979 Saddam Hussein executed some 500 rival party leaders. This was most of the leadership of the Baathist Party. Said Aburish, author of "A Brutal Friendship: The West and the Arab Elite Against the Arab People," was quoted on the execution in 2002. Aburish also later authored a biography of Hussein.
(SFC, 2/7/02, p.A14)(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)
1979 Osama bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, where he laid the groundwork for his al Qaeda network.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1980 Feb 2, Reports surfaced that the FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen in what became known as "Abscam," a codename protested by Arab-Americans.
(AP, 2/2/00)
1980 Fouad Ajami, published "The Arab Predicament," and established his reputation as an astute observer of modern Arab societies. He pointed to the 2 pivotal problems of modern Arabs: their encounter with western modernity, and their relationship with Israel.
(SFC, 5/12/98, p.D4)
1980s Ayman Al-Zawahri fled from Egypt after he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for belonging to an outlawed group. He later met Osama bin Laden and became the "emir" of the Islamic Jihad.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1981 Oct 6, Egyptian Pres. Anwar Sadat was killed by Islambouli, an Islamic fundamentalist (Takfir wal Hijra) and Egyptian army lieutenant, at the parade ground of Nasser City during a ceremony commemorating the Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Although authorities were warned of a death plot hours earlier, the information did not get to the president in time. He was succeeded by Vice President Hosni Mubarak. The events are described in a book by Fouad Allam: "The Brotherhood and I." In 2000 Mohammad Khan produced the film "Days of Sadat," starring Ahmed Zaki.
(HFA, '96, p.40) (TMC, 1994, p.1981)(SFC, 4/26/96, p.A-12)(HNQ, 7/12/98)(HN, 10/6/98)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A8)(WSJ, 3/29/04, p.A16)
1981 Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged in 5 other Arab monarchies to form the Gulf Co-operation Council.
(Econ, 11/20/04, p.90)
1982 Jun 2, An Abu Nidal hit team shot Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov in the head in London. Argov survived.
(WSJ, 8/20/02, p.A18)
1982 Sep 8, Abu Nidal gunmen made a machine gun attack on diners at the Jo Goldenberg restaurant on rue de Rosiers in Paris. 6 people were killed and 22 wounded.
(WSJ, 8/20/02, p.A18)
1983 Nov 25, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced a cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1985 May 20, Israel exchanged 1,150 Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers.
(www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/19631988.htm)
1985 Nov 23, Egypt Air flight 648 was hijacked to Malta by Palestinian militant Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist group.
(SFC, 7/20/96, p.A6)(SFEC, 10/8/96, D1)(MC, 11/23/01)
1986 Feb 19, Jordan King Hussein severed ties with the PLO.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1986 May 15, In Sudan Francis Bok was kidnapped when Arabs from a government-armed militia swept into his village shooting the men and cutting off their heads with swords.
(WSJ, 5/23/02, p.A1)
1986 Osama bin Laden began building a tunnel complex under mountains in Afghanistan near Pakistan as part of a CIA-funded project.
(SSFC, 5/9/04, p.M6)
1987 Aug 25, Saudi Arabia denounced Iran's government as a "group of terrorists," and said its forces would deal firmly with any Iranian attempts to attack the Saudis' Muslim holy places or vast oil fields.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1987 Dec 8, The "intifadah" (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza began.
(AP 12/8/97)(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A17)
1988 Apr 16, Abu Jihad, [Khalil al-Wazzir], PLO-leader, was murdered. The Palestine Liberation Organization accused Israel of assassinating al-Wazir, a top PLO military figure, in Tunisia. Palestinians reacted angrily, and at least 14 were shot and killed by Israeli troops during clashes in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank.
(AP, 4/16/98)(MC, 4/16/02)
1988 Jul 18, Abu Nidal terrorists killed 9 on the City of Poros cruise ship.
(MC, 7/18/02)
1988 Dilip Hiro authored "Islamic Fundamentalism."
(FT, 12/14/02, p.V)
1988 Hamas published a manifesto calling for a holy war to create an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel. It challenged the PLO's claim as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
(SFC, 3/23/04, p.A11)
1989 In Afghanistan Osama bin Laden formed al Qaeda.
(SSFC, 5/9/04, p.M6)
1989 In Peshawar, Pakistan, Abdulla Yusuf Azzam, a Palestinian intellectual, was assassinated in a car bombing reportedly ordered by Osama bin Laden for suspected CIA ties.
(SFC, 8/19/98, p.A16)
1991 Oct 31, On the second day of the Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Arab delegates clashed bitterly over land issues.
(AP, 10/31/01)
1991 A Saudi businessman started the 1st independent Arabic news and entertainment channel, the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Co.
(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)
1991 Sami Al-Arian, an engineering professor at the Univ. of South Florida, raised $100,000 from Saudi Arabian donors to start the "World and Islam Studies Enterprise" (WISE).
(WSJ, 10/1/01, p.A1)
1992 Jan 25, Mahmoud Riad, sec-gen of Arab League (1972-79), died.
(MC, 1/25/02)
1992 Dec 17, Israel ordered the deportation of 418 suspected Muslim fundamentalists from the occupied territories.
(AP, 12/17/02)
1992 Harkat-ul Jihadi-e-Islami (HUJEI) was formed with funds from al-Qaeda with the goal of creating an Islamic state in Bangladesh.
(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A20)
1992 In Yemen 2 hotel bombs directed at US servicemen killed 2 Australians. The bombing was later linked to Osama bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi family. He was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10,12)
1992 Ramzi Yousef, nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, dispatched from Pakistan a childhood friend Abdul Hakim Murad to the US to begin plotting the 1st World Trade Center attack.
(WSJ, 8/6/04, p.A6)
1993 Mar 24, Mahmoud Abouhalima, a cab driver implicated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was flown back to the United States from Egypt. Abouhalima was later convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 3/24/03)
1993 Jul 27, Israeli guns and aircraft pounded southern Lebanon in reprisal for rocket attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1993 Sep 14, Israel and Jordan signed a framework for negotiations, a day after the signing of a PLO-Israeli peace accord.
(AP, 9/14/03)
1993 Nov 25, Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Sedki escaped an attempt on his life when Islamic militants detonated a car bomb near his motorcade. The attack killed a 5-year-old girl. Yasser al-Siri, a member of the "media committee" of the Islamic Jihad, was tried and convicted in absentia for the assassination attempt. Siri fled to the UK and obtained political asylum.
(HN, 11/25/98)(WSJ, 10/26/01, p.A19)
1993 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri became head of the Egyptian Jihad.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A1)
1993 Osama Bin Laden was suspected of supplying weapons to Somalia to shoot down American helicopters.
(SFC, 8/17/98, p.A12)
1993 Muhammad Atef, a top Osama bin Laden lieutenant, and 6 other al Qaeda operatives, set up training camps in Somalia to help Somali tribes oppose a UN peacekeeping operation.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A13)
1993 The Rome-based Orbit, financed by Saudi interests, launched its own communications satellite.
(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)
1994 Sep 15, An Arab Charter on Human Rights was adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States.
(www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/international/hr1994.htm)
1994 The family of Osama bin Laden disowned him. The Binladin Group later invested with the Washington-based Carlyle Group, which also employed George Bush Sr.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1995 Jan 9, In New York, trials began for Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 11 other defendants accused of conspiring to wage a holy war against the United States. Nine were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and two reached plea agreements with the government.
(AP, 1/9/00)
1995 Nov 19, A suicide bomber self-destructed in the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad and killed 15 others. 59 were wounded. Islamic militants opposed to the Cairo regime claimed responsibility.
(WSJ, 11/20/95, p.A-1)(MC, 11/19/01)
1995 Libya declared jihad against NATO, but no concrete action was taken.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
1996 May, Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan.
(SFC, 8/21/98, p.A2)
1996 Jun 25, At least 23 Americans were killed at a US base near Dhahran. another 105 suffered serious injuries from a truck bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds at the Khobar Towers apartment complex adjacent to King Abdul Aziz Air Base. About 5,000 US troops served in Saudi Arabia. US, French and British aircraft resumed flying 100 missions per day over southern Iraq from Saudi Arabia. In 1997 intelligence information tied a senior Iranian intelligence officer to Hani Abd Rahim Sayegh, a man who fled Saudi Arabia shortly after the bombing. In 1999 the US threatened was set to deport Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia. Sayegh feared torture and asked for US asylum. Sayegh was deported Oct 10. In 2000 Ahmad Behbahani told a 60 Minutes journalist from a refugee camp in Turkey that he proposed the Pan Am operation and coordinated the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 13 Saudis and one Lebanese man were indicted for the bombing that killed 19 American airmen and wounded nearly 400 others.
(USAT, 6/26/96, p.1A)(WP. 6/29/96, p.A22)(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.A14)(WSJ, 10/5/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C16)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A9)(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A1)
1996 re: Jun 25, Later reports said that Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi billionaire, bankrolled the bombing of the US base that killed 19 US servicemen. He was an advocate of strict Islamic rule and had said that he would campaign to overthrow the Saudi royal family. He had lived in the Sudan for 5 1/2 years and recently moved to Afghanistan and was accepted by the Taliban. In 1998 a senior Saudi official absolved Iran of any involvement in the bombing. In 2000 it was reported that the Bin Laden family firm was awarded the contract to rebuild the Khobar Towers.
(SFC, 3/7/97, p.A17)(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC, 11/18/00, p.A12)
1996 Aug, Osama bin Laden signed a fatwa authorizing Muslims to attack American military personnel.
(WSJ, 10/3/01, p.A17)
1996 Nov, The independent Arab Al-Jazeera TV news network began operating from Qatar. In 2002 Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar authored "Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East."
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A21)(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.M1)
1996 Dec 1, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, crossed into Russia on his way to Chechnya as a possible base of operations. He was soon arrested by Russian police in Dagestan.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1996 Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, an al Qaeda insider, defected to the US and began to describe the extent of Osama bin Laden's terrorist plans.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A14)
1996 A plot to bomb the US Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, was broken up. It was planned by Marwan al Safadi, a Lebanese national, in revenge for the arrest of Omar Abdel Rahman.
(WSJ, 11/16/01, p.A10)
1997 May 24, In Afghanistan forces of the Taliban swept into Mazar-E-Sharif, the last opposition stronghold.
(SFEC, 5/25/97, p.A10)
1997 May, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, was released from a Russian jail. He had attempted to get to Chechnya and was arrested in Dagestan and held for 6 months.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A1)
1997 Dec 11, The 55-member Organization of the Islamic conference ended their meeting in Iran with the declaration that "the killing of innocents is strictly forbidden in Islam." The group also called for full respect for the dignity and rights of Muslim women and criticized Israel for "state terrorism."
(SFC,12/12/97, p.B2)
1997 Mohamad Kamal Mustafa, imam of Fuengirola, Spain, authored “Women in Islam," in which he defended a husband’s right to beat his wife.
(WPR, 3/04, p.11)
1998 Jan 9, Ramzi Yousef was sentenced in New York to life in prison for the 1994 bombing of a Philippines airliner and 240 years for masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
(WSJ, 1/4/98, p.R4)
1998 Feb 23, Osama bin Laden declared a holy war on the US. The Al Quds Al-Arabi newspaper published a statement that announced an alliance between Dr. Zawahri, head of the Egyptian Jihad, and Osama bin Laden. "We—with God's help—call on every Muslim…to comply with God's order to kill Americans."
(WSJ, 4/2/02, p.A18)(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1998 Jun 25, Albanian security personnel (SHIK) under CIA guidance arrested Shawki Salama Attiya, a Tirana cell forger. Over the next 2 months they made a successful raids on more suspected members of the Egyptian Jihad terrorist organization. The suspected terrorists were turned over to anti-terrorist officials in Egypt, where they delivered forced confessions following torture.
(SFC, 8/13/98, p.A16)(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A1)
1998 Aug 4, The Egyptian Jihad under Dr. Zawahri denounced the CIA-led arrests in Albania and said Americans should soon receive a response "in the only language that they understand."
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1998 Aug 7, Two powerful bombs exploded at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. At least 147 [244,247] people were killed and over 4,800 were injured. 11 [12] of the dead were Americans. In Nairobi at least 53 buildings were damaged. The adjacent Ufundi Cooperative House was demolished and the 22-story Cooperative Bank House had all its windows shattered. Haroun Fazil of the Comoros Islands was later the 3rd bombing suspect to be charged in the Kenya bombing. In 2001 Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali (24) of Saudi Arabia, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27) of Tanzania, Wadi El-Hage (40) of Texas, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (36) of Jordan were convicted on 302 counts.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.A1)(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/18/98, p.A1)(AP, 8/7/99)(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A13)
1998 Aug 7, In 2000 Ali Mohamed, a former US Army sergeant, pleaded guilty for his role in the bombing under the direction of Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A1)(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A1)
1998 Aug 7, In Nairobi Catherine Bwire (25) was one of 25 people blinded by the bombing. She was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter on Oct 27.
(SFC, 11/25/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 7, In Pakistan Sadik Howaida (34), later named as Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, was detained at the Karachi airport. He reportedly confessed to participating in the bombing in Nairobi. He said that he and 2 coconspirators had left Nairobi and planned to enter Afghanistan a few days before the bombing. He acknowledged that the team was recruited and financed by Osama bin Laden who was ensconced in a fortress-style hideout in Kandahar. Odeh later refused to admit responsibility to American officials.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, p.A17)(SFC, 8/17/98, p.12,17)(SFC, 8/18/98, p.A6)
1998 Aug 8, The Taliban overran Mazar-i-Sharif and killed 9 of 11 diplomats from Iran. 8 of the dead were diplomats, the 9th was a journalist. Later reports indicated that the Taliban killed as many as 4,000 civilians, mostly Hazaras, in a campaign partly designed to wipe out the Shiite Muslim minority.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D4)(SFC, 9/18/98, p.D8)(SFC, 2/19/01, p.A9)
1998 Fouad Ajami, published "The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey," a sequel to his 1980 book but more concerned with Arab literature.
(SFC, 5/12/98, p.D4)
1998 An Egyptian militant, believed to be Ahmed Nasrallah, reported to Yemen’s Political Security Organization on al Qaeda terrorists around the Marib region. The security service tipped off the terrorists.
(WSJ, 12/20/02, p.A1,6)
1998 Samih Toukan founded Maktoob in Amman, Jordan, a software firm dedicated to replacing English with Arabic in e-mail systems. Maktoob.com was the world’s 1st Arab language Web site. In 2000 the firm received a $2.5 million cash injection from an Egyptian investment bank.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A14)(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.C1)
1999 Mar 27, This was the 1st day of the Muslim feast day Id al-Lahma, feast of meat, or Id al-Adha, feast of sacrifice.
(SFC, 3/29/99, p.A7)
1999 May 19, Ali A. Mohamed, a former US Army sergeant, was indicted for conspiring with Osama bin Laden to kill Americans abroad.
(SFC, 5/20/99, p.A2)
1999 Jul 11, In London 2 Egyptian associates of Osama bin Laden were arrested. The fingerprints of Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous (42) and Adel Abdel-Meguid Abdel-Bary (39) were found on statements taking responsibility for the attacks against US embassies in Africa last August.
(SFC, 7/13/99, p.A8)
1999 Ayman Al-Zawahri, "emir" of the Islamic Jihad, was sentenced to death in absentia by an Egyptian military court for organizing an insurgency against the government.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A8)
1999 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri stepped down as head of the Egyptian Jihad. He was replaced by Tharwat Salah Shehata, who wanted to focus on the struggle in Egypt.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
1999 In Egypt defendants reported during the trial of 107 suspected terrorists that agents of Osama bin Laden had purchased dangerous biological agents through the mail for as little as $3,865."
(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.A20)
1999 Saudi police arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and jailed him for 14 months for maintaining contact with Osama bin Laden. He was then deported to Yemen.
(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2000 Jan, There was a meeting of terrorists in Kuala Lumpur. The US CIA informed the FBI that Khalid Al-Midhar had a US visa. Midhar was later one of the Sep 11, 2001, terrorists.
(SFC, 6/4/02, p.A10)
2000 Feb, In Egypt Ahmed Osman Saleh and Ahmed Ibrahim al-Naggar, members of the Egyptian Jihad, were hanged for their connections to terrorist cases. They had been pulled out of Albania in 1998 by Albanian Security (SHIK) working with the CIA.
(WSJ, 11/20/01, p.A10)
2000 Nov 18, Some 2000 women from 19 Arab countries met in Cairo to push for improved status in their male-dominated societies.
(SFEC, 11/19/00, p.C16)
2000 Nov, Metin Kaplan was sentenced in Germany for operating a terrorist organization. His group had planned to bomb Ataturk's mausoleum in Ankara with an airplane packed with explosives on Turkey's 75th anniversary.
(SFC, 2/5/02, p.A9)
2000 Oct 20, Egyptian-born Ali Mohamed, a U.S. citizen who'd served in the Army (1986), pleaded guilty in New York to helping plan the deadly U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. It was later reported that Mohamed, a former Egyptian Army major, had served as an FBI informant.
(AP, 10/20/01)(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A1)
2000 Gilles Kepel authored “Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam."
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
2000 Tharwat Salah Shehata gave up as head of the Egyptian Jihad and Dr. Zawahri resumed control.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
2001 Mar 28, In Jordan an Arab summit convened. Delegates had already approved a draft resolution for the UN to allow Baghdad to fund the Palestinian uprising.
(WSJ, 3/27/01, p.A17)
2001 May 19, The Arab League called on Arab governments to sever political contacts with Israel until the Jewish state ended military action against Palestinians.
(AP, 5/19/02)
2001 Jun, The Egyptian Jihad and al Qaeda drafted "Statement No. 1" under the new name Qaeda-al Jihad Group: "Islam's enemies will soon roast in the same flames that they now play with."
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.A8)
2001 Jul 5, An FBI agent in Phoenix wrote to bureau headquarters that al Qaeda could be sending terrorists to train as student pilots. He urged the investigation of Middle Eastern men enrolled in American flight schools.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A19)
2001 Jul 28, Samir Ait Mohamed (32) was detained in Vancouver on immigration charges. On Nov 15 he was arrested on US charges for plotting to bomb the Los Angeles airport during millennium festivities.
(SFC, 11/17/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 28, Jamal Beghal (36), a French-Algerian, was arrested in Dubai, UAR, with a false French passport while traveling to Europe from Afghanistan. He was extradited to France in Sep 30. He told police of a plans to bomb the US Embassy in Paris on orders from Abu Zubaydah, a top bin Laden lieutenant.
(WSJ, 10/3/01, p.A18)(SFC, 10/23/01, p.A5)
2001 Aug 1, In Indonesia Taufik Abdul Halim, a member of the Malaysian Mujahedeen Group, blew off his lower right leg at a Jakarta shopping mall when a bomb he carried exploded prematurely. Halim was linked to Dedi Setiono (Abbas), who was linked to Hambali (Riduan Isamuddin), operations leader of Jemaah Islamiah.
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.A16)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A14)
2001 Aug 6, US intelligence told Pres. Bush that al Qaeda might try to hijack American planes. The report was based on 1998 data.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A1,19)
2001 Aug 16, Zacarias Moussaoui (33), a French citizen of Moroccan descent, was arrested in Minneapolis on immigration charges. He was taking lessons on flying Boeing jets with no interest in taking off or landing. He was later suspected as a 5th member of one of the Sep 11 WTC attack teams. In Nov the FBI reported that Moussaoui wanted to learn how to take off and land but not to fly. Mueller also said Ramzi Omar of Yemen, aka Ramsi Binalshibh, may have been the 20th hijacker.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A7)(SFC, 11/15/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 2/4/02, p.A1)
2001 Aug 21, The CIA placed Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi under suspicion as part of the investigation in the bombing of the destroyer Cole in Yemen. The 2 were among the hijackers who commandeered the jet that hit the Pentagon on Sep 11.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A19)
2001 Sep 1, The US issued a 34 cent stamp featuring Arabic calligraphy that says "Eid Mubarek," a greeting used to celebrate the 2 holiest Islamic holidays, Aid al-Fitr for the end of Ramadan fasting, and Eid al-Adha for the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
(SFC, 11/30/01, p.A8)
2001 Sep 9, In the UAR Mustafa Ahmed al Hissawi, an associate of Osama bin Laden, retrieved about $5,000 sent by Marwan al Shehhi, a UAE citizen believed to be the Sep 11 pilot of US Flight 175.
(WSJ, 11/2/01, p.A13)
2001 Sep 11, 8:45 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 carrying 92 people, crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center in NYC. It was enroute from Boston to LA.
9:03 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767 carrying 65 people, crashed into the South Tower of the WTC. It was enroute from Boston to LA.
9:38 a.m. American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 carrying 64 people, crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. It was enroute from Washington DC to LA.
9:40 a.m. The FAA grounded all domestic flights and ordered all airborne craft to land immediately.
10:00 a.m. The South Tower of the WTC collapsed.
10:10 a.m. United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 45 people, crashed southeast of Pittsburgh. The plane had left Newark for SF but was believed to be directed by hijackers to Camp David. Passengers appeared to have overcome the hijackers.
10:29 a.m. The North Tower of the WTC collapsed.
5:25 p.m. Building 7 of the WTC complex collapsed. Four groups of terrorists used knives, hijacked 4 airplanes, and were suspected to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization and appeared to be a franchise operation.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A6,10,12)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)(SFC, 11/6/01, p.A6)
2001 Sep 11, World leaders expressed outrage at terrorist attacks in NYC and the Pentagon and pledged solidarity with the US. In the West Bank town of Nablus, some 3,000 people celebrated the attacks and chanted "God is great."
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 11, The terrorist attacks threatened to prompt a global recession. Thousands of people were stranded and air cargo was paralyzed as the FAA grounded all US flights.
(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1,3)
2001 Sep 19, Imad Mughniyeh, Lebanese head of Hezbollah overseas operations, and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahri, a senior bin Laden aide, were named in a Jane's Foreign Report as possible masterminds for the Sep 11 attacks in addition to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.A20)
2001 Sep 25, Interpol issued a bulletin for the arrest of Ayman al-Zawahri (50), an Egyptian surgeon believed to be Osama bin Laden's closest al Qaeda associate in Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A8)
2001 Oct 2, The US gave Nato "clear and compelling" evidence that Osama bin Laden orchestrated the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 10/3/01, p.A4)
2001 Oct 6, Pres. Bush warned Afghanistan's rulers that time is running out. The Taliban said it would release 8 aid workers if the US "stops issuing threats" of military action.
(SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 6, US and British intelligence identified Mohammed Atef, a former Egyptian policeman and close aide to Osama bin Laden, as the key planner of the of the Sep 11 attacks.
(SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A5)
2001 Oct 7, US and British forces struck 31 targets in Afghanistan. 40 warplanes, 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-2 Stealth bombers, B-1 lancers, B-52s, F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were used against air defenses, communication nodes and other large fixed target sites. Airdrops of food were also made. The Taliban later claimed that 8-20 civilians were killed in the attacks.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A1)(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 7, In Afghanistan the Northern Alliance moved its front line artillery and infantry units against the Taliban.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.A5)
2001 Oct 7, The Al-Jazeera TV network from Qatar showed video footage of Osama bin Laden praising Allah for the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.G1)
2001 Oct 7, Sulaiman Bhughaith, a Kuwaiti Islamist, emerged in Afghanistan as a spokesman for Osama bin Laden.
(WSJ, 10/24/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 9, Qatar's Al-Jazeera broadcast a taped video of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, an al Qaeda spokesman, who called on Muslims to attack US interests worldwide.
(SFC, 10/10/01, p.A10)
2001 Oct 10, The 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference, called by Iran, issued a communique that sidestepped US action in Afghanistan: "The conference rejected the targeting of any Islamic or Arab state under the pretext of fighting terrorism."
(SFC, 10/11/01, p.A7)
2001 Oct 30, Yasser al-Siri, an Egyptian activist, was charged in London in connection with the assassination in Afghanistan of Ahmed Shah Massood, a Northern Alliance leader. [see Egypt, Nov 25, 1993]
(SFC, 10/31/01, p.A4)
2001 Nov 1, In Pakistan a statement attributed to bin Laden accused the government of supporting a Christian crusade and urged people to defend their faith.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A3)
2001 Nov 2, It was reported that Ibrahim Bah, a Libyan-trained former Senegalese rebel, lived in Burkina Faso and selected diamond dealers to handle deals in Liberia between rebels from Sierra Leone and the al Qaeda network.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A8)
2001 Nov 3, The Al-Jazeera TV network broadcast a videotape from Osama bin Laden. He portrayed that attacks against Afghanistan as a war against Islam and denounced Arab leaders who cooperate with the UN for peace negotiations saying that amounted to a renunciation of Islam.
(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A5,8)
2001 Nov 4, It was reported that the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur cited bin Laden as possibly possessing an arsenal of biochemical weapons. US intelligence sources were cited that bin Laden purchased laboratories from the former Yugoslavia, Ebola virus from former Soviet stockpiles, botulism from the Czech Republic, anthrax from North Korea and the assistance of chemists and biologists from the Ukraine.
(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A25)
2001 Nov 9, In Afghanistan Northern Alliance forces claimed the capture of Mazar-e-Sharif.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 9, Jordan's King Abdullah II said his country would consider sending troops to Afghanistan to help the anti-terrorism coalition.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A3)
2001 Nov 9, A Pakistani newspaper published an interview with Osama bin Laden in which he claimed to have chemical and nuclear weapons.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A5)
2001 Nov 9, In Pakistan police in Dera Ghazi Khan shot and killed 4 protesters during a strike called by extremist religious parties.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A5)
2001 Nov 13, Spanish police arrested 11 people with suspected links to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 11/14/01, p.A6)
2001 Nov 18, In Spain 8 men, Soldiers of Allah, detained last week were reported to be members of the al Qaeda network and to have played a role in the Sep 11 attacks.
(SFC, 11/19/01, p.A5)(SFC, 11/20/01, p.A7)
2001 Nov 19, It was reported that 400 Afghan Taliban soldiers were killed while trying to defect last week. Defectors continued to stream out of Kunduz as US war planes continued to bomb Taliban positions.
(SFC, 11/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 19, Egypt and Syria confirmed the extradition of Rifai Ahmed Taha, a former aide to Osama bin Laden, from Syria to Egypt.
(SFC, 11/20/01, p.A12)
2001 Nov 20, Abu Qatada (40), a Muslim cleric living in London, was named in a Spanish indictment as a pivotal figure in the al Qaeda network in Europe.
(SFC, 11/21/01, p.A11)
2001 Nov 28, It was reported that Hezbollah's TV channel, al-Manar, was one of 4 Arabic language cable stations available in Paraguay.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Nov, An al-Qaeda computer was acquired by a Wall Street journalist in Kabul for $1,100 following US bombing. It was found to contain numerous memos of al Qaeda activities including weapons programs.
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A10)
2001 Nov, A treatise by Ayman al Zawahri was smuggled out of Afghanistan. It was published in Dec by an Arabic language newspaper in London.
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A10)
2001 Dec 26, The Al Jazeera Arab network broadcast a new video-taped statement from Osama bin Laden that appeared to have been made in late Nov or early Dec. "Our terrorism is benign." The al-Qaida leader condemned the United States as a nation that committed crimes against millions of Afghans.
(SFC, 12/27/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/25/02)
2001 Ansar al-Islam, blamed for attacks in Iraq and supported by a network of members in Europe, was founded in late 2001 in Kurdish part of northern Iraq by Mullah Krekar, who had lived as refugee in Norway since 1991.
(AP, 1/8/05)
2002 Feb 1, It was reported that Riduan Isamuddin (36), an Indonesian cleric known as Hambali, was a Southeast Asian pointman for an al Qaeda network.
(WSJ, 2/1/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 17, In Saudi Arabia a man was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 4,750 lashes for having sex with his wife's sister. The woman, who did not consent, was sentenced to 6 months and 65 lashes.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 26, In Pakistan gunmen killed 9 people and wounded over 10 others in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Rawalpindi. The Sunni group Army of the Prophet's Companions was believed responsible.
(SFC, 2/27/02, p.A9)
2002 Mar 8, The Holy Land Foundation filed suit against the US Departments of Justice, Treasury and State for violation of its civil rights and putting it out of business as a suspected conduit for terrorist funds.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 9, In Cairo Arab foreign ministers met and voiced support for a Middle East peace proposal by Saudi Arabia.
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A16)
2002 Mar 27, In Beirut the Arab League opened a summit of its 22 member states.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 28, In Beirut the Arab League committed to accepting Israel as a neighbor under conditions that included the creation of an independent Palestinian state and Israel's full withdrawal from war-won lands.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A15)(AP, 3/28/03)
2002 Apr 4, It was reported that Saddam Hussein of Iraq had raised financial payments to the relatives of suicide bombers from $10k to $25k.
(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr 6, Arab League ministers in emergency session denounced the Bush administration's handling of the Middle East conflict. Some 15k Jordanians marched in Ibrid. Over 20k marched in Paris and another 20k marched in Rome.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A7)
2002 cApr 12, Arab militant groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood issued a manifesto declaring that Arab governments had betrayed the Palestinians and called holy war "the religious duty of every Muslim."
(SFC, 4/17/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 23, German police arrested 11 suspected Islamic militants during a sweep against Al Tawhid (Divine Unity), a Sunni Muslim and Palestinian movement.
(SFC, 4/24/02, p.A8)
2002 Apr 23, Spanish police arrested Mohamed Zouaydi on charges of financing terrorist activities around the world.
(SFC, 4/25/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 25, Russia reported that Khattab, an Arab guerrilla, had been killed in Chechnya.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A14)
2002 May 10, Arab leaders pressed Yasser Arafat to stop suicide bombings as Israel delayed a strike into Gaza.
(SFC, 5/11/02, p.A8)
2002 May 18, The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted Abdel Azeem al-Muhajir, a senior al Qaeda leader, that a strike against the US was imminent and that the recent attack in Tunisia was its work.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A3)
2002 May 20, In Lebanon a car bomb killed Jihad Jibril (38), head of local military operations for the PFLP-GC. He was the son of Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril who headed the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, founded in 1968.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)
2002 Jun 5, It was reported that US intelligence believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed of Kuwait, a key bin Laden lieutenant, was the mastermind of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks.
(SFC, 6/5/02, p.A16)
2002 Jun 22, A bin Laden spokesman said in audiotaped remarks from Qatar that Osama bin Laden and his No. 2 man are both alive and well and their al-Qaida network is ready to attack new U.S. targets.
(AP, 6/23/02)(SSFC, 6/23/02, p.A22)
2002 Jul 1, Jordan reported that 11 people, including a Palestinian-Jordanian who fled the American bombing on Osama bin Laden's stronghold in Afghanistan, have been detained in connection with an alleged plot to attack American targets.
(AP, 7/1/02)
2002 Jul 4, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet (41), an Egyptian-born 10-year resident of Irvine, opened fire at Los Angeles' airport. Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov were killed at Israel's El Al ticket counter before Hadayet, born July 4, 1961, was shot to death by a guard.
(AP, 7/5/02)(Reuters, 7/5/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 7/6/02, p.A12)
2002 Aug 30, In the Netherlands 8 men were detained for providing financial and logistical services to al Qaeda and for recruiting fighters.
(SFC, 9/3/02, p.A6)
2002 Sep 6, US officials reported that the assets of Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, alleged al Qaeda financier, had been frozen, and that he had been located in Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 9/7/02, p.A8)
2002 Sep 14, In Lackawanna, New York, 5 men of Yemeni descent were charged with supporting foreign terrorist organizations. They reportedly were schooled in the tools of terror, including the use of suicide as a weapon, in camps run by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A 6th member of the cell was arrested in Bahrain.
(AP, 9/15/02)(SFC, 9/17/02, p.A12)
2002 Sep 16, In Singapore authorities announced the arrests of 21 men they identified as members of an extremist Islamic organization. The men were initially detained in August and linked to Riduan Isamuddin, an Indonesian militant.
(SFC, 9/17/02, p.A12)(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A14)
2002 Sep 25, In Pakistan the Islamic Martyrs Brigade (Lashkar Fedayan-e-Islami) held a secret meeting in Peshawar and announced planned suicide attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/27/02, p.A18)
2002 Oct 4, US federal agents arrested 4 suspected al Qaeda terrorists, 3 in Portland and 1 in Detroit. 2 other suspected cell members were overseas.
(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 22, It was reported that special forces in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia had captured 15 Arab militants linked to al Qaeda.
(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A7)
2002 Oct 28, In Jordan an assassin pumped eight shots into Laurence Foley (62), an employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development, outside his home in the first known killing of a Western envoy in Amman. 2 suspects were arrested Dec 14. Abu Musab Zarqawi was suspected in the murder.
(AP, 10/28/02)(WSJ, 12/16/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/10/04, p.A8)
2002 Nov 4, In northwest Yemen 6 al-Qaida suspects were killed when the car they were traveling in blew up in an area where authorities believe the terror group is active. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a suspected al-Qaida leader, was among the dead.
(AP, 11/4/02)(AP, 11/5/02)
2002 Nov 12, An Arab TV station broadcast an audiotape of Osama bin Laden, a voice that U.S. counterterrorism officials said is probably authentic.
(AP, 11/13/02)
2002 Nov 21, Al-Qaida leader Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the network's chief of operations in the Persian Gulf, was reported to have been captured earlier in the month.
(AP, 11/21/02)
2002 Dec 13, Hamas marked its 15th anniversary with a rally that drew some 30,000 supporters in southern Gaza.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A6)
2002 Dec 16, French counter terrorism agents arrested 4 suspected Islamic militants in a Paris suburb. The three Algerians and a Moroccan had an unidentified liquid and an anti-contamination suit.
(AP, 12/17/02)
c2002 Fred M. Donner authored "The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2002 Gilles Kepel authored "Jihad: The Trial of Political Islam."
(WSJ, 3/29/02, p.W10)
2002 Christoph Luxemberg, a pseudonym, authored "The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran. It included new theories on the text meanings and the rise of Islam.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2002 Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar authored "Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East."
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.M1)
2002 Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," authored "The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia."
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.M1)
2002 Olivier Roy authored “Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah." 1st published in French, an updated English version came out in 2004.
(Econ, 10/16/04, p.79)
c2002 Ibn Warraq, the pseudonym of a former Muslim, authored "The Origins of the Koran" and "The Quest for the Historical Mohammad."
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A15)
2003 Jan 26, Annamarie Schimmel (80), a professor emeritus of Islamic studies at Harvard University who also lectured in Germany and Turkey, publishing more than 100 books died in Bonn.
(AP, 2/2/03)
2003 Feb 11, The purported voice of Osama bin Laden, broadcast over the Al Jazeera network, told his followers to help Saddam Hussein fight Americans.
(AP, 2/12/03)
2003 May 12, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, multiple, simultaneous car bombings at three foreign compounds killed 30 people, including 8 Americans and 9 suicide bombers. The next day Saudi authorities linked Khaled Jehani (29) head of a 19-member al-Qaida team to the carnage. Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, a senior al Qaeda figure, surrendered Jun 26.
(AP, 5/13/03)(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/14/03, p.A1)(SFC, 6/27/03, p.A16)
2003 May 12, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (70), a wealthy philanthropist who held a string of top UN humanitarian posts and was the uncle of the spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam, died in Boston.
(AP, 5/13/03)
2003 Jul 23, Iran acknowledged that it was holding senior al Qaeda figures, but would not identify them.
(WSJ, 7/24/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 23, A raid in Saudi Arabia on Islamic militants left three suspects dead, including an Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani (aka as Zubayr al-Rimi), an al-Qaida figure wanted by the US.
(AP, 9/24/03)
2003 Sep 29, Irshad Manji (34), Canadian author of the recently published: "The Trouble With Islam: A Wake Up Call for Honesty and Change," was reported saying: "I leave my fellow Muslims with a very basic question here: Will we remain spiritually adolescent, caving to cultural pressures to conform or will we finally mature to the full fledged citizens that we are allowed to be in this part of the world?"
(AP, 9/29/03)(WSJ, 1/27/04, p.D8)
2003 Oct 1, US officials identified Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir (29), a Yemeni ex-bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, as al Qaeda's new terror chief.
(WSJ, 10/2/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 18, A new audiotape, purporting to be from Osama bin Laden and promised fresh attacks against the United States.
(AP, 10/19/03)
2003 Nov 25, In Yemen security forces arrested Saudi-born Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal (32), the alleged mastermind of the attacks on the USS Cole, at a hide-out west of the capital, San'a.
(AP, 11/26/03)(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2003 Dec 22, Leaders of Arab countries from the Persian Gulf agreed to form a pact to combat terrorism and praised Washington for planning to transfer power to Iraqis by mid-2004.
(AP, 12/22/03)
2003 The Saudi-owned news channel al-Arabiya was launched from Dubai.
(Econ, 2/26/05, p.25)
2004 Apr 19, Pierluigi Vigna, Italy's national anti-Mafia prosecutor, said Italian mobsters and Islamic terrorist groups have forged links in arms and drug trafficking.
(AP, 4/20/04)
2004 May 11, A video, posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site, showed the beheading of Nick Berg, an American civilian in Iraq. The execution was carried out to avenge abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, aka Ahmad Fadhil al Khalayeh, was later identified as the beheader. Nick Berg (26) was from West Chester, Pa.
(AP, 5/11/04)(SFC, 5/12/04, p.A1)(SFC, 5/14/04, p.A13)(ST, 5/14/04, p.A17)
2004 Jun 11, A new audiotape, was broadcast on the Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya alleges that a U.S. plan for reform in the Middle East is really a bid to replace Arab leaders. It was believed to be from al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
(AP, 6/12/04)
2004 Aug 6, Saudi officials reported the capture of Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al Zahrani, No. 12 on their list of 26 most wanted terrorism suspects.
(SFC, 8/7/04, p.A10)
2004 Aug 6, Yemeni warplanes and artillery pounded mountain hideouts of an anti-U.S. leader and his followers in a major offensive aimed at ending a six-week conflict that has killed at least 500 people.
(AP, 8/6/04)
2004 Sep 9, Ayman al-Zawahri said in an al Qaeda videotape that the US will be ultimately defeated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(SFC, 9/10/04, p.A14)
2004 Sep 26, Ezzedin Sheikh Khalil, a senior Hamas operative, was killed in a car bombing outside his house in Damascus, the first such killing of a leader of the Islamic militant group in Syria. The hit was claimed by Israeli security officials.
(AP, 9/27/04)(Econ, 10/2/04, p.47)
2004 Sep 27, Lebanon said Ismail Katib, a local al Qaeda operative captured a week earlier, died “of a heart attack" while in police custody.
(WSJ, 9/28/04, p.A1)(Econ, 10/2/04, p.47)
2004 Oct 29, Osama bin Laden appeared in a new video, dropped off at the Pakistan offices of Al-Jazeera television. He claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks and claimed more violence is possible regardless of who wins the US elections. Bin Laden vowed to bleed America to bankruptcy, according to a full transcript of the unaired portions.
(AP, 10/30/04)(SFC, 10/30/04, p.A1)(AP, 11/2/04)
2004 Nov 2, It was reported that some 3,000 Arab intellectuals had signed a petition calling for an int’l. court to try Muslim clerics who encourage terrorism.
(SFC, 11/2/04, p.A3)
2004 Gilles Kepel authored “The War for Muslim Minds."
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.D12)
2005 Feb 7, Pakistan, as part of a peace deal in south Waziristan, paid 4 tribal militants a total of $842,000 so they could pay back money received from al Qaeda to fight Pakistani troops.
(WSJ, 2/10/05, p.A10)
2005 Feb 21, The Arab League chief said that Syria will "soon" take steps to withdraw its army from Lebanese areas in accordance with a 1989 agreement. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters shouted insults at Syria and demanded the resignation of their pro-Syrian government in a Beirut demonstration.
(AP, 2/21/05)
2005 Mar 3, An Arab League meeting opened in Cairo. An Arab diplomat said Syria has told Arab countries it needs to keep 3,000 troops and early-warning stations inside Lebanon to maintain its security despite international pressure for a full withdrawal.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 19, In Qatar a suicide car bomb attack on a Doha theater killed one Briton. The next day Qatar blamed an Egyptian for the attack.
(AP, 3/20/05)
2005 May 18, An Internet audiotape was posted, purportedly by al-Qaida-in-Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, In which he justifies the deaths of fellow Muslims in attacks against US troops and their Iraqi allies by saying that jihad, or holy war, dwarfs all other concerns.
(AP, 5/18/05)
2005 Jun 1, Jerusalem city engineer Uri Shetrit said 88 homes in an Arab neighborhood are marked for demolition to make way for an archaeological park documenting the disputed city's ancient Jewish origins.
(AP, 6/1/05)
2008 Feb, The 22-member Arab League approved restrictive guidelines for satellite channels.
(SFC, 5/27/08, p.A9)
2011 Jan, The Arab world included over 350 million people.
(Econ, 1/22/11, p.15)
2011 May 15, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby was elected the new secretary-general of the Arab League.
(SFC, 5/16/11, p.A2)
2011 May 19, President Barack Obama laid out a new US strategy toward a skeptical Arab world, offering fresh aid to promote democratic change as he seeks to shape the outcome of popular uprisings threatening both friends and foes.
(Reuters, 5/19/11)
2013 Apr 29, Arab League delegates in Washington, DC, proposed a revised peace plan based on a 2002 peace initiative that would allow some Jewish settlements on occupied land to remain part of Israel.
(Econ, 5/11/13, p.41)(http://tinyurl.com/p7qtvph)
2013 Jul 1, Gulf Arab states called on the UN Security Council to meet urgently to prevent a massacre in Homs, as pro-government forces in Syria try to wrest the city from rebels fighting to topple President Assad.
(Reuters, 7/1/13)
2014 Nov 23, Israel's Cabinet approved a contentious bill that officially defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The bill would delist Arabic as an official language. On Nov 24 presentation of the bill before the Knesset was delayed.
(AP, 11/23/14)(SFC, 11/25/14, p.A4)
2014 Andrew Hussey authored “The French Intifada: The Long War Between France and Its Arabs."
(Econ, 2/22/14, p.83)
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