Honour unto a slave

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Sadia Dehlvi [1]

As Rabi-ul-Awwal, the blessed month of Prophet Mohammed’s birth visits us again, it is time to reflect on the true meaning of his teachings. Some of his companions, like Bilal, were exemplars of the prophetic message of submission to the one God.

During the early days of Islam, Bilal was an African slave of a rich man in Mecca. He had been kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. One day, he heard that the Prophet was calling people to believe in the one God who administer justice. Bilal and the other slaves were aware that the rich and powerful of Mecca were ridiculing Mohammed’s message. They knew Mohammed had always taken the side of the poor and oppressed. The slaves also knew that when Mohammed married Khadijah, they had freed all their slaves and that the Prophet had adopted one of them, Zayd, as his son.
Bilal embraced Islam and joined the gatherings of the Prophet where followers were treated with equal respect. When Bilal’s master heard of his conversion to a religion that preaches equality and kindness to slaves, he tied Bilal with ropes, laying him down in the desert sun with heavy boulders on his stomach. He whipped him continuously, ordering him to reject Islam. But Bilal kept repeating, “God is one, God is one.” On witnessing Bilal’s torture, one of the Prophet’s companions, Hazrat Abu Bakr bought Bilal, set him free and looked after him till his wounds healed.
Due to the persecution of powerful chiefs in Mecca, Prophet Mohammed migrated to Madinah. Bilal was among the small group of followers that accompanied him. After the construction of first mosque at Quba near Madinah, the Prophet chose Bilal to give the first call for prayers, making him the first official muezzin of the Islam. This decision endorsed the beauty of Islam where a dark-skinned man, non-Arab, former slave and one with a different accent was chosen over all others for this great honour.
When some Muslims from the elite clans expressed their contempt at the choice of a black slave, the following verses of Quran were sent down to chastise them: “O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted with all things.”
For the next 10 years, during the life of the Prophet, Bilal called the faithful to prayers, five times a day in his melodious voice. After Mohammed left for the other world, Bilal’s heart was filled with sorrow. He could not bear to live in Madinah and left for Damascus. He came back to visit the Prophet’s mosque once more and gave the call to prayer. All the people of Madinah came out to listen to him, tearfully remembering the days of the Prophet. Bilal returned to Damascus, where he died at the age of 60. He will always be remembered for his devotion to the Prophet and the extraordinary beauty of his voice.

Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author.