High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Palestinian people have a history that is often linked to the history of the Arab Nation, which is linked to the rise of Islam. When Islam was started by the prophet Muhammad in Mecca in 610 CE, Christianity was the major religion of Palestine. Soon after the rise of Islam, Palestine was conquered and brought into the rapidly expanding Islamic empire. The Umayyad empire was the first of three successive dynasties to dominate the Arab-Islamic world and rule Palestine, followed by the Abbasids and the Fatimids. Muslim rule was briefly challenged and interrupted in parts of Palestine during the Crusades, but was restored under the Mamluks.