Bilal ibn Rabah

‘One, One’ on the Burning Sand

Bilal ibn Rabah was an Abyssinian slave of Umayya ibn Khalaf, and among the first to embrace Islam and the first to suffer for it. His master would lay him flat on the scorching sand of Makkah with a heavy rock on his chest, ordering him to renounce his faith or die; Bilal answered only “Ahad! Ahad!” — “One! One!” — and was dragged through the streets with a rope about his neck. 1 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 1 · pp. 297–299 — Kandhlawi — Bilal tortured on the hot sand with a rock on his chest, repeating 'Ahad, Ahad', and dragged through Makkah. Abu Bakr bought and freed him, one of several persecuted slaves he ransomed for the sake of Allah. 2 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 1 · pp. 300 — Kandhlawi — Abu Bakr ransoms Bilal and frees him.

The First Mu’adhdhin

In Madinah, Bilal became the first mu’adhdhin of Islam, his voice calling the believers to prayer. After the Prophet’s ﷺ death he found the city unbearable for grief and left; later, at the request of Hasan and Husayn, he gave the adhan once more, and all of Madinah wept at the sound. 3 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 10–11 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Bilal the Prophet's mu'adhdhin; his last adhan in Madinah moving the city to tears. He died in Damascus in 20 AH.

Virtues in the Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ told him he had heard the sound of his sandals ahead of him in Paradise, and Bilal explained he never made ablution without praying after it:

فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ دَفَّ نَعْلَيْكَ بَيْنَ يَدَىَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ

”For I heard the sound of your sandals ahead of me in Paradise.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 1149 · Book 19 (Night Prayer), Hadith 30 · USC-MSA: Vol. 2, Book 21, Hadith 250 · narrated by Abu Hurayra