Sufi dancers Not long after the foundation of Islam and the life of Mohammed, about 650 AD, there were people who became known as Sufis (SOO-fees). Sufis can be Sunni or Shiite. These people wanted a more [...]
In the lifetime of the Prophet Mohammed, and for some years afterwards, Islam was a united faith. But by the 650s AD, Islam split into two main sects. They fought bitterly with each other. These two [...]
What is the Quran? A page from a Quran of the Umayyad period (600s AD), now in Birmingham, England What is the Quran? The Quran is the holy book of [...]
Tomb of Ali, the first Imam and the fourth caliph, in Iraq (it was rebuilt about 1500 AD by the Safavids) Where did Islam come from? Medieval Islam was closely related [...]
Mohammed praying at the Ka'aba (in an Ottoman book from 1388 AD) - the Ka'aba and the hajj What is the Ka'aba? The Ka'aba, or Cube, was a big black [...]
Mohammed praying at the Ka'aba(in an Ottoman book from 1388 AD) Mohammed was born in the Arab trading and pilgrimage city of Mecca, in the Arabian peninsula, between 570 and 580 AD. His parents were part of a family [...]
Kairouan mosque - the courtyard When was the Great Mosque at Kairouan built? The Islamic governors of Tunisia built the Great Mosque at Kairouan in the 800s AD, in the time [...]
Arya Bhata worked at Nalanda University, in Patna, India Where was Arya Bhata from? Arya Bhata was born about 476 AD in India. He probably came from central India, though nobody knows for [...]
Vishnu and Lakshmi (Kashmir, 1000s AD now in Los Angeles) A Hindu god Vishnu was one of the Hindu gods. He was mentioned in the Rig Veda as a god of light and the sun. But people [...]
Vessantara and Maddi and their two children (Sanchi stupa, Northern Gateway, ca. 50 BC) - a Jataka story Another Jataka story This Buddhist story is a Jataka tale from about 400 BC. Jataka tales [...]
