Mecca both residents and pilgrims. Mecca's culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage. As a result of the vast numbers of pilgrims coming to the city each year, Mecca has become by far the most diverse city in the Muslim world. In contrast to the rest of Saudi Arabia, and particularly Najd, Mecca has, according to "The New York Times", become "a striking oasis" of free thought and discussion and, also, of "unlikely liberalism" as "Meccans see themselves as a bulwark against the creeping extremism that has overtaken
Muhammad in Mecca Muslims. Moreover, some of these were spared when they converted to Islam. Muhammad's return was followed by several battles which led to Muslims conquering the rest of Arabia, and a final return to Mecca in 632 where he completed his first true Islamic pilgrimage, and made his Farewell Sermon at Mount Arafat. His return marked the end of the tenth year after Muslims' migration to Medina, and his pilgrimage set the precedence for the annual Great Pilgrimage, known as "Hajj." In his "Farewell Sermon", at Mount Arafat east of Mecca on the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muhammad advised his followers