Timeline of the history of Islam (20th century)
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- 1901: Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud captures Riyadh. French forces occupy Morocco.
- 1904: Morocco becomes a French protectorate under the Algeciras Conference. The Presian constitution is promoted.
- 1905: The beginning of the Salafiyyah movement in Paris with its main sphere of influence in Egypt.
- 1907: The beginning of the Young Turks movement in Turkey.
- 1912: The beginning of the Muhammadiyyah reform movement in Indonesia.
- 1914: Under Ottoman rule, secret Arab nationalist societies are formed. World War I begins. The Ottoman Empire enters the war allied with Germany.
- 1916: Arab revolt against Ottoman (Turkish) rule. Lawrence of Arabia leads attacks on the Hejaz Railway.
- 1917: Britain issues the then-secret Balfour Declaration pledging British support for the creation of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine.
- 1918: After losing virtually their entire empire, the Ottomans capitulate on October 19 and sign the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies on October 30. World War I ends on November 11. Syria becomes a French protectorate.
- 1920: Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI signs the Treaty of Sèvres, reducing the Empire to a fraction of its previous size and allowing for the indefinite presence of Allied forces in Turkey. The treaty is rejected by nationalist leaders, who vow to block its implementation.
- 1920-1922: Turkish War of Independence.
- 1921: Abdullah I of Jordan in made King of Transjordan. His father was the Sharif of Mecca. Faisal I of Iraq is made King of Iraq. His father was the Sharif of Mecca. Abd al-Karim leads a revolt against colonial rule in Moroccan Rif, and declares the "Republic of the Rif".
- 1922: Turkish nationalists under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal seize control of Turkey and abolish the Ottoman Sultanate, prompting Sultan Mehmed VI to flee Turkey; the 600 year-old Ottoman Empire officially ceases to exist.
- 1923: Mustafa Kemal secures Allied recognition of Turkey's independence in the Treaty of Lausanne and subsequently declares the Republic of Turkey. The Turkish capitol is officially shifted to Ankara.
- 1924: The Turkish Grand National Assembly abolishes the Ottoman Caliphate and sends the remaining members of the Ottoman House into exile. King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud conquers Mecca and Medina, leading to the unification of the Kingdoms of Najd and Hejaz.
- 1925: Reza Khan seizes the government in Persia and establishes the Pahlavi dynasty.
- 1926: Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud assumes title of King of Najd and Hejaz.
- 1927: Death of Zaghlul, an Egyptian nationalist leader.
- 1928: Turkey is declared a secular state. Hasan al-Banna founds the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement dedicated to social, political, and moral reform in Egypt. The movement would later spread to other Arab nations and to Pakistan.
- 1932: Iraq granted independence by League of Nations.
- 1934: War between King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud and Imam Yahya of the Yemen. Peace treaty of Taif. Asir becomes part of Saudi Arabia.
- 1935: Iran becomes the official name of Persia.
- 1936: Increased Jewish immigration leads to an Arab revolt in Palestine in the Great Uprising.
- 1939: World War II.
- 1941: British and Russian forces invade Iran and Reza Shah is forced to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Shah in Iran. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi founds Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim Brotherhood's South Asian counterpart.
- 1945: End of World War II.
- 1946: Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria are granted independence from Britain and France.
- 1947: India gains independence from Britain, and Pakistan is created from the region's Muslim-majority areas. Disputes over the status of Kashmir leads to the first Indo-Pakistani War; Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan.
- 1948: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are displaced as Israel comes into existence. Arab armies suffer defeat in war with Israel.
- 1949: Hasan al-Banna, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, is assassinated by Egyptian security forces.
- 1951: Libya becomes independent.
- 1952: King Faruq of Egypt forced to abdicate.
- 1953: Backed by American and British intelligence agencies, General Zahedi leads a coup against Mohammed Mossadegh, returning the Shah to power. Death of King Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. The foundation stone is laid to enlarge the Prophet's mosque in Medina.
- 1954: Algerian War of Independence begins.
- 1956: Morocco becomes independent. Tunisia becomes independent.
- 1957: The Bey of Tunisia is deposed, and Bourguiba becomes president. Enlargement of the Haram in Mecca begins.
- 1958: October 7, President Iskander Mirza declares Martial Law. General Ayub Khan assumes the powers as Chief Martial Law Administrator.
- 1960: Mali and Senegal become independent.
- 1962: Algeria becomes independent. Death of Zaydi Imam of Yemen (Ahmad). Crown Prince Bahr succeeds him and takes the title Imam Mansur Bi-Llah Muhammad.
- 1965: American Muslim leader Malcolm X is assassinated. The second Indo-Pakistani War results in a stalemate.
- 1967: In the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan, Israel seizes control of Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. More Palestinians are displaced.
- 1968: The enlargement of the Haram in Mecca is completed. Israel begins building Jewish settlements in territories occupied during the Six-day war.
- 1969: King Idris of Libya is ousted by a coup led by Colonel Qadhdhafi.
- 1971: Bengalis in East Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman begin campaigning for independence from West Pakistan, prompting a heavy-handed military reprisal from Pakistani forces. India becomes involved in the conflict, resulting in the third Indo-Pakistani War. After a bloody struggle in which many Civilians are killed, Bangladesh comes into existence.
- 1973: King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is overthrown.
- 1975: Indonesia invades and occupies East Timor. Death of Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam among African Americans in North America. Warith Deen Muhammad assumes leadership of Nation of Islam and shifts movement toward Islamic Orthodoxy, renaming it American Muslim Mission.
- 1978: Imam Musa Sadr is apparently assassinated after he disappears on a trip to Libya. He was the religious leader of the Lebanese Twelve-Imam Shi'ites. He promoted the resurgence of Shi'ites in Lebanon and set the foundation of Amal. As part of the Camp David Accords, Egypt becomes the first Arab nation to recognize Israel. Israel returns the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
- 1979: Years of political tension and unrest in Iran climax as the autocratic Pahlavi regime is overthrown by a popular revolution. In its place, Iranian clerics led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini establish the Muslim World's first Islamic government of any kind in over 50 years, declaring the Islamic Republic of Iran. Groups of students loyal to the new regime seize control of the American embassy in Tehran and take 66 officials hostage. Religious students in Saudi Arabia seize control of the Haram of Mecca, sparking a two-week standoff with Saudi security forces. The crisis comes to an end when Saudi forces storm the mosque, killing 237 of the 300 men and apprehending the remainder. All surviving conspirators in the plot are publicly executed. The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Death of influential Islamist leader Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
- 1980: Iraq invades Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq war. In a move not recognized internationally, Israel confirms its capital as the united Jerusalem.
- 1981: The 444-day Iranian hostage crisis comes to an end. Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated by militants opposed to his autocratic policies and recognition of Israel.
- 1982: Israel invades Lebanon, purportedly in response to repeated Katyusha rocket attacks originating in southern Lebanon.
- 1989: The Iran-Iraq war comes to an end following much loss of life. The Soviet Union withdraws the last of its forces from Afghanistan. Afghan mujahideen factions begin fighting each other. Death of Shia religious leader and Iranian head of state Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
- 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait.
- 1991: A coalition of United States-led forces attacks Iraq and reverses its attempted military annexation of Kuwait. US-backed economic sanctions are imposed on Iraq. The sanctions are widely blamed for subsequent dramatic increases in famine, birth defects, and infant mortality amongst Iraqis. The Soviet Union collapses. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, all predominantly Muslim former Soviet republics, become independent.
- 1992: The 400 year-old Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India is destroyed by Hindu extremists, sparking widespread religious rioting acorss India.
- 1994: Jordan becames the second of Israel's Arab neighbors to recognize Israel.
- 1996: Taliban forces seize control of most of Afghanistan and declare the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
- 1998: Amidst growing criticism of his economic policies, longtime Indonesian leader General Suharto resigns after over thirty years in power. Pakistan conducts nuclear tests in response to similar tests by neighbor and archrival India, becoming the first Muslim nuclear power. Former deputy prime minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, a vocal critic of prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of sodomy.
- 1999: Death of Jordan's King Hussein. King Hussein's son Abdullah is declared king of Jordan. Indonesia relinquishes control of East Timor, which is granted independence under a UN-sponsored act of self-determination. General Pervez Musharraf seizes control of Pakistan after a military coup against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
- 2000: Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip begin the Al-Aqsa Intifada, prompted by Ariel Sharon's visit to a disputed religious site holy to both Jews and Muslims.