How did a group of desert tribes, divided for centuries, manage to build one of the largest empires in history in just a few decades? What were the origins of Islam? And what made the Arab conquests so transformative? In episode 21, I give an overview of the first century of Islamic history, leading up to the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Hook 00:30 The Beginning of the Middle Ages 04:19 Pre-Islamic Arabia 11:01 Muhammad, the Last Prophet 13:53 What is Islam? 18:12 The Hijrah and the Constitution of Medina 21:32 Toward the Unification of the Arabs 25:03 The Rashidun Caliphate and the Great Arab Conquests 34:16 The First Fitna in Islam 37:45 The Establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate of Damascus 42:33 The Arab Conquest of the Maghreb 46:01 The Verdict: Barbarian Conquerors vs. Arabs 47:48 Outro