Timeline of 21st-century Muslim history

• Damascus Spring is brought to an end by the arrest of 10 civil society activist who were sentenced to between two and 10 years.
• Over several weeks beginning on March 2, the Taliban began the systematic shelling and dynamiting of two giant sixth century Buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Banyam valley in central Afghanistan. Mullah Mohammed Omar justified the destruction of this UNESCO World Heritage Site on the ground that they were idols under Islamic law.
• On September 11 members of the Al Qaeda Terrorist organization attacked the United States by hijacking commercial airliners and flying them into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, killing upwards of three thousand. In response the United States government would declares a War on terror, beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan.
• The 7.7 M_w  Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured.

• General elections in Pakistan are held after the 1999 military takeover. PML (Q) led by Mian Muhammad Azhar, a pro-military party, gains majority throughout Pakistan. Mir Zafrullah Khan Jamali became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• The riots between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, India. More than 5000 reported killed, most of them Muslims.
• A terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda kills more than 200 people in the 2002 Bali bombings.[1]
• Chechen rebels take 800 hostages in the Moscow theater hostage crisis.[1]

• The United States leads the invasion of Iraq, searching for "weapons of mass destruction," starting the second Iraq War.[1] As a result of US De-Ba'athification policy, former Iraqi soldiers and police form secret groups and begin insurgency.
• Shirin Ebadi becomes the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting human rights.
• On April 5 Israel conducts the Ain es Saheb airstrike near Damascus, claiming the site was a terrorist training facility for members of Paletinian Islamic Jihad.
• Truck bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kill 34.[1]
• Spanish restaurant and Jewish centers attacked in Casablanca, Morocco, killing 43 people.[1]
• Attack on hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia kills 10.[1]
• 52 killed in suicide attacks on British and Jewish targets in Istanbul.[1]
• Demise of Mirza Tahir Ahmad, 4th Caliph of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam and Mirza Masroor Ahmad elected 5th Caliph.[2][3]

• The second-largest earthquake ever recorded occurs in the Indian Ocean, triggering the Asian tsunami. Indonesia suffers the heaviest damage with 167,736 dead, 37,063 missing and over 500,000 displaced.
• Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution coalition forces hand over sovereignty of Iraq to caretaker government.
• Photos and documentation reveal extensive torture and abuse of prisoners by US military personnel at Abu Ghraib.
• US troops assault the Iraqi city of Fallujah.[1]

• Iraq holds election for National Assembly whose task was to draft constitution, which was ratified by popular vote that same year.
• Local body elections are held in Pakistan on non-party basis.
• Saudi Arabia's King Fahd dies. Fahd's brother Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, who had assumed de facto leadership of the country after King Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1994, is declared king.
• A powerful, 7.6-magnitude earthquake hits the Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan, killing upwards of 73,000 people.
• On October 8 an earthquake in Pakistan kills thousands and leaves families homeless in Khyber-Pakhunkha/Hazara region. Multi story apartment building in Islamabad also collapsed.
• Israel removes Jewish settlers and military personnel from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, but continues control of its borders.
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins Iranian presidential election.[1]
• A high turnout among Muslims in Iraq parliamentary elections, despite insurgency.[1]
• US attacked Iraq & casualties in Iraq pass the 2000 mark.[1]

• Israel invades part of Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah
• Execution by hanging of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.
• Muhammad Yunus wins Nobel Peace Prize for successful application of microcredit schemes to poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

• Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan after 10 years of self-imposed exile.
• Death of Benazir Bhutto in an attack by terrorist at Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi. General elections were rescheduled.

• In November 2008, 10 Pakistani members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic militant organization, carried out a series of twelve coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai, India.

• President Barack Obama delivers an address at Cairo University promising "A New Beginning" in US-Muslim relations.

• Last US combat troops leave Iraq.
• Rima Fakih becomes the first Miss USA winner to claim the Muslim faith.

• Tunisian Revolution, an intensive campaign of civil disobedience and protests begun in December 2010, ousts long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali—the first of a series of upheavals known as Arab Spring.
• January 25 Revolution, a series of demonstrations, civil disobedience and strikes in Egyptian urban areas, part of the Arab Spring movement, resulted in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, who turned power over to a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
• Crack down in Syria on protests inspired by Arab Spring leads to Syrian Civil War. The opposition rebels are largely Sunni Muslims while loyalists are largely Alawites. A refugee crisis ensued with over 2 million Syrian refugees fleeing to Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
• Militant uprising of the professional class, defecting soldiers and Islamists later backed by French, British and US airpower topple administration of Muammar Gaddafi (who is captured and executed), the power of which was assumed by the rebels' organization the National Transitional Council.
• Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden killed by US Special Forces inside Pakistan.

• Mohamed Morsi, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, becomes the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history.

• June 2013 Egyptian protests, a mass public demonstration against the administration of Mohamed Morsi, followed by a military coup d'état in which Morsi was deposed and arrested. After leading protests against the coup, the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned by the end of the year.

• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant invades Northern Iraq.
• Islamic extremist group Boko Haram kidnaps 276 female students in northeast Nigeria.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that if the Austrian government closes Mosques and expels Muslims, it could lead to war. He said, “These measures taken by the Austrian prime minister are, I fear, leading the world towards a war between the cross and the crescent, "They say they're going to kick our religious men out of Austria. Do you think we will not react if you do such a thing?” he asked, quoted by AFP. “That means we're going to have to do something".[4]