This article explores the expansion of the Muslim world from the 8th to the 18th century as a global phenomenon, and its continuing expansion to the present. It then looks at specific phenomena of global significance which flow from recent work on Islamic societies; the tales of story tellers which cross the regions of the world; understandings of astrology and astronomy which have been widely shared; and particular commodities the impact of which has been of global significance. It concludes by noting the 'Protestant Turn' which has been experienced throughout Muslim societies in the 19th and 20th centuries, but which is also shared by other leading faiths.