Prophet Mohammed founded Islam. He was born in 570 A.D. at Mecca (now in Saudi Arabia) and got his first revelation of 'Allah' (God) in 610 A.D. All these revelations or visions are compiled in the 'Koran' - the Muslim holy book. Unlike Hinduism, Prophet Mohammed preached against idol worship and even today the Muslims believe that the search of God through images is a sin. Friday is the holy day for Muslims and the main mosque in each town is known as Jamma Masjid. The spiritual goal of each Muslim is to make the pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj) and to become a Hajji.

India saw numerous conversions to Islam during 1200 to 1707 A.D. (the era of Muslim domination), which were of two types - (i) those forced by foreign invaders and (ii) those that took place voluntarily by members of lower castes & other sections. The third category of Indian Muslims consists of foreigners who came here & settled down during invasions. The first clash between Hindus and Muslims came in the 12th century when Mahmud of Ghazni & Mohammed Ghori carried out a succession of raids. They constitute only 10% of the country's population and are India's largest minority community. The Hindus and Muslims were united until Independence when there was an unhappy division of the nation into India & Pakistan. The Hindu-Muslim interaction is bitter in some regions but their influences on each other has produced a culture, extraordinarily rich in music, architecture, literature and cuisine.