The first Muslims, the Arabs, began to set up an empire that eventually stretched from the Atlantic Ocean right across to the borders of China.

This Islamic empire absorbed many peoples and their cultures. Today, there are many nationalities of Muslims. There are Muslim communities throughout the world today. They form the majority of population in the Middle East, North Africa, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan. The Muslim population in the United States is growing at a very fast rate. It is estimated that within this decade, Muslims will be the second largest group in the United States.

The Muslims were the standard bearers of learning during the Middle Ages and were responsible for transmission of much of the knowledge of the ancient world which helped lay the foundations for Western culture.

Centrepiece of the Muslim world is the Sacred Mosque at Mekka in, what is presently known as, Saudi Arabia. In the middle of the mosque's large open court there is a stark cubelike building of gray stone called the Kaaba.

The Kaaba is the House of God, dedicated to God's worship by the patriarch Abraham. Near it the Prophet Muhammad was born about C.E. 570. Some 700 million years ago.

Muslims - a fifth of mankind - turn towards the Kaaba five times a day in prayer.