The Hegira (Hijra) (emigration) of Muhammed from Mecca, where he was not honored, to Medina, where he was well received, occurred in 622 and marks the beginning of the Muslim era. In 630 he marched on Mecca and conquered it. He died at Medina in 632. His grave there has since been a place of pilgrimage. Muhammed’s followers, called Muslims, revered him as the prophet of Allah (God), beside whom there is no other God. Sources of the Islamic faith are the Qur’an, regarded as the uncreated, eternal Word of God, and tradition (hadith) regarding sayings and deeds of the prophet. Islam means surrender to the will of Allah. He is the all-powerful, whose will is supreme and determines humanity’s fate. The Five Pillars, or primary duties, of Islam are: profession of faith; prayer, to be performed five times a day; almsgiving to the poor and the mosque (house of worship); fasting during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan; and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime. Islam, upholding the law of brotherhood, succeeded in uniting an Arab world that had disintegrated into tribes and castes. Islam is the principal religion of the Middle East, Asia, and of the northern half of Africa.