"Muhammad is the messenger of God"

A well-respected caravan trader of Mecca in the Arabian peninsula, in about 610 Muhammad experienced a call to be a prophet of the one true God, who is Creator, active in history, and Judge. Until 622 Muhammad and his followers experienced antagonism and persecution from pagans in Mecca, but the hijra ("emigration") to Medina in 622 afforded him a base for community-building and for diplomatic and military operations. By the time of his death in 632 he was master of Arabia, and his followers were soon to overrun both the Persian Empire and the eastern Byzantine provinces, followed by all of North Africa and Spain.