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Prophetic Footsteps TheCaravanالقافلة

The journey of the ummah, from the Rashidun to today

Fourteen centuries of Islamic history, travelled as one caravan route: twelve stations from Madinah to the wide world.

Begin the journey Play a Rihla
632 CE → todayfrom 11 AH 12 stations Being written

The route · 632 CE to today

Every grain, a generation

Twelve stations on one long road. Follow the route and the hourglass keeps time.

Setting out · Madinah, 632 CE
  1. Station 01 · Madinah

    The Rightly Guided Caliphs

    Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali: the four caliphs who led the ummah after the Prophet ﷺ.

    632 – 661Coming soon
  2. Station 02 · Damascus

    The Umayyads

    A caliphate ruled from Damascus that reached from Iberia in the west to the Indus in the east.

    661 – 750Coming soon
  3. Station 03 · Baghdad

    The Abbasids & the Golden Age

    Baghdad becomes a great capital of learning, translation and trade.

    750 – 1258Coming soon
  4. Station 04 · Iberia

    Al-Andalus

    Nearly eight centuries of Muslim rule in Iberia, from Córdoba to the fall of Granada.

    711 – 1492Coming soon
  5. Station 05 · The Levant

    The Crusades & Salahuddin

    Two centuries of crusades in the Levant. Salahuddin retakes Jerusalem in 1187.

    1095 – 1291Coming soon
  6. Station 06 · Cairo

    The Mongols & the Mamluks

    Baghdad falls to the Mongols in 1258; two years later the Mamluks of Egypt halt them at Ain Jalut.

    1258 – 1517Coming soon
  7. Station 07 · The Sahel

    West Africa: Mali, Songhai & Timbuktu

    Empires of the gold and salt trade, and Timbuktu’s mosques, scholars and manuscripts.

    c. 1235 – 1591Coming soon
  8. Station 08 · Anatolia

    The Ottomans

    From a small Anatolian principality to an empire across three continents.

    1299 – 1922Coming soon
  9. Station 09 · Iran & India

    The Safavids & the Mughals

    Great empires of Iran and South Asia, famed for their art, architecture and learning.

    1501 – 1857Coming soon
  10. Station 10 · By sea

    Islam in South-East Asia & China

    Islam travels the monsoon sea lanes and the Silk Road, carried largely by merchants and scholars.

    From c. 13th centuryComing soon
  11. Station 11 · Everywhere

    Colonialism & Renewal

    European empires rule much of the Muslim world, while movements of reform and independence take shape.

    c. 1800 – 1950Coming soon
  12. Station 12 · Worldwide

    The Modern Ummah

    After the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate: new nations, migration and a worldwide ummah.

    1924 – todayComing soon
Today · the road goes on

Rihla · رحلة

Learn by journey

Short journeys through history, stop by stop. Answer as you travel, collect a stamp at every city, and fill your passport.

On the road ahead

  • The House of Wisdom
  • Al-Andalus
  • The Silk Road
  • Mansa Musa’s Hajj
  • Ibn Battuta’s travels
The Caravan Rihlaرحلة
Journey No. 1

Your first rihla

The Rightly Guided Caliphs

632 – 661 CE11 – 40 AH 6 stops
  1. 1Saqifah
  2. 2The Ridda Wars
  3. 3Umar’s expansion
  4. 4Jerusalem
  5. 5One Quran for all
  6. 6Years of trial
Begin this rihla All journeys

Before the caravan

Where the footsteps began

Every caravan sets out from somewhere. Ours sets out from Madinah, in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ. Walk his life first, from Makkah to Madinah.

PropheticFootsteps
Walk the seerah The seerah journey

Milestones

Five dates on the road

See the full timeline
  1. 632 CE11 AHAbu Bakr becomes the first caliph
  2. 750 CE132 AHThe Abbasids replace the Umayyads
  3. 1187 CE583 AHSalahuddin retakes Jerusalem
  4. 1453 CE857 AHThe Ottomans take Constantinople
  5. 1924 CE1342 AHThe Ottoman caliphate is abolished