My Favorite Place - City (pop., 1992: 608,295), western Saudi Arabia, north of Mecca. It developed from an oasis settled by Jews c. AD 135. In 622 the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina (see Hijrah). It served as capital of the Islamic state until 661. Held by the Ottoman Empire (1517–1804), it then was seized by the Wahhabiyyah. An Ottoman-Egyptian force retook it in 1812. Ottoman rule ceased during World War I (1914–18), and in 1925 it fell to the forces Ibn Sa'ud. A sacred city of Islam, it is second only to Mecca as a place of Muslim pilgrimage; among its many mosques is the Prophet's Mosque, containing the tomb of Muhammad.