When the Message Came From Authority

So when the Companions fought fī sabīlillāh and brought the people under the rule of Islam — before, they were not listening; now they were listening, because the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were ruling over them, so they had some authority to give the people daʿwah. The people were listening very attentively, because now it was coming from the government; it was not coming from a preacher preaching on the corner of the street or in a marketplace, holding a loudspeaker, while people just walk by closing their ears. Now it was coming from a place of authority, and that is when the people entered into Islam in multitudes.

In the beginning, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was giving daʿwah in Makkah, only a few people were interested. However, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) established the Islamic state, now the tribes were listening and other nations were listening, and they were taking it seriously, and that is when people started becoming Muslim in thousands. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), in thirteen years in Makkah — how many followers did he have? A hundred, two hundred, three hundred? However, in Madīnah they were growing by the thousands every year. At the conquest of Makkah the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had an army of twelve thousand, or ten thousand; at Ḥajjat al-Wadāʿ, ninety thousand; and when he passed away, those who prayed ṣalāt al-janāzah over him numbered over one hundred and fourteen thousand.^** So it can be seen how the numbers were growing, because now there was authority.