630s

630s (630–639 CE) was a defining decade in the early Islamic era. In 630, the Prophet Muhammad led Muslim forces to the conquest of Mecca, unifying the Arabian Peninsula under Islam and cleansing idols from the Kaaba. After this consolidation, Muhammad governed the Muslim community until his death in 632, when Abu Bakr became the first caliph and launched the Ridda, or apostasy wars, to reassert Muslim authority over Arabian tribes. Following these campaigns, the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar expanded rapidly beyond Arabia.

In 636, Byzantine and Sassanian forces faced decisive defeats as Muslim armies won key battles at Yarmouk in Syria and Qadisiyah in Iraq, leading to the rapid loss of major eastern provinces for the Byzantine and Sassanian empires. By the end of the decade, Damascus had fallen and Jerusalem surrendered to Muslim forces in 638. The late 630s also saw beginnings of the conquest of Egypt, opening the Nile valley to Islamic rule.

The 630s thus marked the transition from Prophet-led state-building to a formal caliphal empire that stretched from the Arabian Peninsula into the Levant, Mesopotamia, and parts of North Africa. The decade set the stage for the rapid expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century and reshaped the political and religious map of the region.