The salient periods of theological developments are grouped as follows: (1) the Prophet's lifetime since his first revelation (611–632 CE); (2) the first four wise Khulafā’ (11–36 AH / 632–656 CE); (3) the transitional period of the Umayyad dynasties and the rise of Shīca movement and Muctazila sect (36–133 AH / 656–750 CE); (4) the Abbasid period (133–656 AH / 750–1258 CE) and its intellectual counterpart during the Andalusia period (317–422 AH / 929–1031 CE); (5) the break-up of the ummah and the formation of empires (429–1330 AH / 1037–1912 CE); (6) the rise and development of the Salafī movement (562 AH / 1166 CE-present); and (7) nineteenth- to twenty-first-century CE fundamentalism. Theological views have ebbed and flowed within these times, many doctrinal views have been developed, and different sects and movements have risen, some remaining relatively unchanged, others changing and disappearing. Muslims’ certain core beliefs, however, have never been broken, interrupted, or altered throughout Islam's fourteen-century history, no matter how much else has changed, particularly in the realm of the politics of religion.

There was a significant disruption in Muslim society when the Umayyad challenged cAli's Khilāfa in 36 AH / 656 CE. In some respects, it was the end of Islam's age of innocence. In the centuries following the end of the Umayyad period, other disruptions occurred that splintered the Muslim world, as can be seen from the table at the end of this appendix. Arab political influence waned under succeeding empires ruled by peoples from substantially different cultures such as the Seljuks (429–707 AH / 1037–1307 CE), the Mongols (603–808 AH / 1206–1405 CE), the Safavids (907–1135 AH / 1501–1722 CE), and the Turkish Ottoman Empire (699–1342 AH / 1299–1923 CE). In matters of theology, however, Arab cultural influence remained, as it does today, because the Qur’ān, the ḥadīth, and the sunna are all in Arabic, as are most of the scholarly writings since the ninth century CE (prior to that, nearly all theological works were in Arabic). Islam as a religion and as a belief system remained constant, despite major historical sociopolitical transformations over fourteen centuries.