Rise of Islam

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the 7th century, a new empire rose from the sands of Arabia - united by faith, driven by conquest, and destined to change history forever.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Khododad Rezakhani to explore the emergence of Islam from the ashes of Rome and Persia’s great struggle for supremacy. Together they discover how the early Islamic polity took shape, why the Arab conquests were so swift and decisive, and how they reshaped the politics, culture, and religion of West Asia. From the fall of the Sasanians to the dawn of a new empire, this is the story of how Islam rose to dominate the world of late antiquity.

Persia Reborn: Rise of the Sasanians

Edges of Empire: The Sasanian Frontiers

Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Tim Arstall, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Grand Sumo Tournament comes to the Royal Albert Hall.
0:05.0	Over 40 elite sumo wrestlers from Japan will battle for the coveted title of Grand Champion over five days.
0:14.0	Witness the battle of power and endurance between these great athletes.
0:19.0	From the 15th to the 19th of October. For tickets and more information,
0:25.9	head to royal alberthall.com. Hey guys, I hope you're doing well. I'm currently at Ancens HQ. I'm at
0:37.1	History Hit Office on the Friday,
0:39.1	so there are not many other people in the office today, but I always like coming in on a
0:42.8	Friday because it's quiet and I can get so much more done. Today's episode, we're going
0:49.1	back to the 7th century AD, and we're exploring the rise of Islam and the early Arab conquests with our
0:55.6	guest, Dr. Hoddad Rezzahani. Hoddad, he's an expert in the late antique and early medieval
1:01.4	world, particularly in West Asia, and he currently works at the Austrian Academy of Science in Vienna.
1:07.5	He dialed in from Vienna for this chat, really grateful for this time, and it was
1:11.2	fascinating to hear all about this topic, particularly, at least in my opinion, why Hoddad
1:16.6	believes the Arabs were so successful against the Sasanian Persians and the Romans, two great
1:22.1	ancient superpowers. He pushes aside this idea that both these superpowers, they were weak and in ruin at the time from years of fighting.
1:29.8	It was really interesting and I really do hope you enjoy.
1:33.9	Let's go.
1:49.0	In the mid-seventh century, the world changed forever.
1:55.5	For centuries, the River Euphrates had marked the boundary between two great superpowers of antiquity, but in a matter of decades, a new empire rose to dominate the entirety of West Asia, presenting itself as the
2:03.6	champion of a new faith and ideology.
2:07.0	Islam.
2:08.2	In this episode, we're covering this extraordinary period of change.
	...

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