Like the rest of this region in Europe, contacts were sporadic until the era of the Ottomans and the whole of Europe was forced to recognize Muslim power. The Dutch were heavily active in trade with some states professing Islam overseas. In the 20th century, a more structured Muslim community started to develop and socially mobilize in this area.
| 1457 | The Council of Cardinals meets in Holland and discusses Crusades in Africa. |
| 1500s | The Flemish aristocrat and Habsburg ambassador Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq introduces tulips, which he learned of in the Ottoman court, to Europe. Tulipomania will grip both its native Ottoman lands and Europe in the coming centuries. |
| 1611 | Ahmad ibn Qasim al-Hajari, an Andalusian moriscos, travels to France and the Netherlands as part of a delegation from Morocco seeking compensation for goods taken by Christian corsairs from Muslims leaving Spain during the 1610. His account, The Supporter of the Faith Against the Infidels, describes his engagement in debates with Christians he came across in order to dispel many of the pervading falsities concerning Islam. The Sultan of Morocco commission this work and publication occurred in Tunis. |
| 1622 | While on an expedition into the English channel, Murad Reis decided to restock on provisions in the port of Veere in his former home Holland. Due to the peace between Holland and Salé, Murad is left unmolested, but he receives far from warm treatment. There, his Dutch wife and children attempt to convince him to give up his new life but to no avail. |
| 1643 | The Dutch appoint a consul to Salé. |
| 1769 | In his memoirs at the Hague, Rev. Mr. Chais writes about smallpox inoculation as done on the Barbary Coast and Bengal (in the East Indies). He recounts various sources regarding the subject, including Libyan ambassador to London, Cassen Aga. |
| 1932 | Indonesians in the Hague set up the first formal Muslim association in the Netherlands. |
| 1949 | At the Round Table Conference in the Hague, the United States of Indonesia is founded with Dr. Sukarno as President and Hatta as Prime Minister. |
| 1960s | Many Turkish and Moroccan immigrants come to Belgium. Labor migrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh come to Bradford, United Kingdom. |
| 1969 | The Islamic and Cultural Center (ICC) opens up in Brussels. |
| 1970s | Many Muslim umbrella organizations spring up in the Netherlands: 1973-1982 The Netherlands Islamic Society serves the Surinamese community; 1975-1981 Federation of Muslim organization in the Netherlands operates (after it starts to fold, its members establish the Muslim Information Center in the Hague); 1978 Founding of the Union of Moroccan Muslim Organizations. Due to insufficient funds and staff, most of these organizations fold. |
| 1975 | The Netherlands opens its first official mosque in Almelo and Muslim cemetery in Rotterdam. |
| 1977 | Dutch government legalizes ritual slaughter according to Islamic rite. |
| 1981 | Turks and Moroccans establish the Muslim Organizations in the Netherlands Foundation. |
| 1982 | The Netherlands Islamic Parliament is established by the Surinamese community to be inclusive of other Muslim nationalities. |
