Most of the Muslims have think that the prophet Abraham started the city of Mecca as he settled his son, Ishmael, with his mother Hagar, with what ended up being a destitute area. As the story says when Ishmael grew up, Abraham reached Mecca and there they laid the walls for and built the first house of worship committed to the one God. This building is the Kaaba. Muslims throughout the world deal with in the direction of the Kaaba once they pray. When Muslims make their pilgrimage they stop at Mecca to circumambulate the Kaaba before heading outside the city to the plain of Arafat. Mecca is the city of birth of the prophet Muhammad.