In 629 Muhammad returned with his followers to take control of the city
of Mecca and to cleanse the Kaaba of pagan idols. The temple itself, together
with the Black Stone, was preserved as the supreme religious center of Islam
the "Mecca" to which all devout Muslims are to attempt to make a pilgrimage
during their lifetimes. Muhammad urged his old enemies and unbelievers to
accept Islam and become part of the Ummah. By 632, almost all of the Arabian
peninsula had accepted Islam, and Muhammad had even sent ambassadors to the
neighboring Byzantine and Persian empires to announce the new religion and
encourage converts. Clearly Muhammad did not look upon Islam as only a
religion of the Arabs, and certainly sought converts other than the residents
of the Arabian peninsula.