Mecca of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city, although the official transliteration used by the Saudi government is "Makkah", which is closer to the Arabic pronunciation. The word "Mecca" in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English speaking Muslims have come to regard the use of this spelling for the city as offensive. The Saudi government adopted "Makkah" as the official spelling in the 1980s, but is not universally known or used worldwide. The full official name is "Makkah al-Mukarramah" ()
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