Muawiya I establishes the Umayyad dynasty with its capital at Damascus, making the caliphate hereditary.
The last Sasanian king, Yazdegerd III, is killed, completing the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia.
Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad, is killed by Umayyad forces at Karbala, an event central to Shia Muslim memory.
Rashidun forces defeat the Sasanian army in Iraq, opening the way to the capture of the capital Ctesiphon.
Rashidun Muslim forces defeat the Byzantine army, opening the way to the conquest of Syria and the Levant.
After Muhammad dies in Medina, Abu Bakr is chosen as the first caliph, beginning the Rashidun Caliphate.
Caliph Abd al-Malik completes the Dome of the Rock, one of the oldest surviving works of Islamic architecture.