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In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with
Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah
guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one
can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness
that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
Bilal Ibn Rabah
Beloved Companions Series:
Bilal Ibn Rabah
(part 1 of 2)
Amr Khaled
www.daralislaamlive.com
________________________________
* Bilal becomes a Muslim
Bilal (Radeeya Allah Anho) embraced Islam in the first year of Muhammad
prophecy at the age of 30. There was an age difference of ten years between him
and the Prophet (P.B.U.H) , as the Prophet received the message of Islam at the
age of forty. Bilal was one of the first people in Makkah to embrace Islam.
Bilal had something valuable; he was the third person who became a Muslim in
Makkah. This is a very important point, because he was a slave to a very cruel,
disbelieving man from Quraish; Umaya Ibn Khalaf. This man lived and died a
disbeliever, and Bilal wished to declare his religion openly although he was
forbidden to do so. Even though he had to hide his beliefs from his cruel
master, his declaration of faith was accepted. Bear in mind, that during the
period of severe suffering in Makkah, no one openly declared their faith in
Islam except seven people. Firstly the Prophet (P.B.U.H.), secondly Abu Bakr
(R.A.) and the third person was Bilal Ibn Rabah (R.A.). Because he loved his
religion so much, he couldnt hide it, and so forsook his life for the sake of
Allah.
Bilal stood in the middle of Makkah and testified, "There is no God but Allah
and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah". He was among the Companions who were
greatly harmed by the disbelievers because of his faith in Islam.
Umaya Ibn Khalaf used to take him to the desert and wait until the temperature
reached forty or fifty degrees. He ordered his servants to undress Bilal, then
cover him in an iron material, and place a heavy stone on his chest, which was
so heavy that ten men couldnt lift. They would leave him like that for hours.
They would then return to him, and by then Bilal would literally be melting.
They would demand Bilal to reject his faith in Allah and Muhammad (P.B.U.H.);
but Bilal endless response would be: "Only one, only one" (meaning only One
God). He stayed in this situation for endless days and months.
However, Bilal remained patient until Abu Bakr went to Umaya Ibn Khalaf and
told him, "Why dont you have mercy on this poor man?"
Umaya replied, "You give mercy to him".
Abu Bakr said, "Yes, I will buy him. How much will you sell him for?"
A slave at that time was worth Deenars of silver. Since Bilal was in poor
health and was beaten excessively, he was worth only one silver Deenar. The
spiteful Umaya Ibn Khalaf said, "I will sell him for nine silver Deenars." Abu
Bakr replied, "And I will buy him for that price."
Umaya laughed and said, "You know Abu Bakr, if you had argued the price with
me, I would have sold Bilal to you for one Deenar.
So Abu Bakr replied, "Umaya, if you had demanded one hundred Deenars, I would
still have bought him!"
Brothers and sisters, spend wealth on people around you who are in need, be
devoted and ready to sacrifice yourself. When you live solely for yourself and
your children, you will live small and die small. But when you live for others,
Allah will extend your life with each person you have helped.
If I asked women here, what is the state of your wardrobes? Filled with
clothes? Do you wear them all? You'll find that you dont wear half of them.
Why? Because fashion changes, and because youre going to lose weight next
year, etc. This is a selfish and greedy act. Give to those who need; those who
can benefit from your unwanted goods.
* The Migration to Madinah
Bilal stayed with the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) until the migration to Madinah (Al
Hijrah), where they left Makkah to Madinah.
Something strange occurred in Madinah. The Prophets Mosque had been built, but
people found it difficult to know the prayer times. How would they know when it
is the time for prayer? One of the Muslims suggested ringing a bell, to signal
that it is time for prayer. This idea was rejected, since the Christians use a
bell to call members to church. Another Muslim suggested that they could raise
a flag and walk with it to signal it was time to pray. But this idea was also
rejected.
A companion called Abdullah Ibn Zayd (R.A.) came and said, "O Allahs Prophet!
This night I dreamt I saw a man selling bells, so I asked him if I could buy
one. He replied, why do you need it? I said, so that people would know it was
time to pray. The man replied, I can tell you something better than that. I
asked him what it was. He said: to call for the prayer.
O brothers and sisters! His dream was about the religion! Some of the youths
dreams are to get a particular car, and thats all they dream of!
While Abdullah Ibn Zayd told them of his dream, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab said, "I
swear Allahs messenger I saw exactly what he saw too!" Upon this, the Prophet
(P.B.U.H.) said, "Thanks be to Allah for this blessed vision. Tell Bilal to
call for the prayer. He has a more beautiful voice than yours.
Does Islam care about beauty, and how to make things look and sound beautiful?
Is that our religion? Yes that's our religion! This is Islam.
So the call for the prayer heared, andBilal became the first caller for the
prayers in Islam, and the first caller for the prayer for the Prophet
(P.B.U.H.).
Battles and the Return to Makkah
Bilal stayed with the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and never missed a single battle with
him. When he was going to the battle of Badr to face the disbelievers, imagine
who was among them? Umaya Ibn Khalaf! Bilal had come face to face with him!
What would you do to the one who had tortured you? When Bilal saw him he said,
"Umaya Ibn Khalaf, the head of the disbelievers, I wont survive if he
survives." During the battle, Umaya Ibn Khalaf was killed.
When the Muslims returned to Makkah, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) returned the favour
to Bilal. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) said, "Bilal, climb on the Kabah back and call
out for the prayer". It doesnt end there. The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) asked, "Where
is the Kabah key? There were 10,000 people standing in front of the Kabah and
the space inside the Kabah would not allow more than one person to pray next
to the Prophet (P.B.U.H.). Who will enter with Allah's Prophet?! Surely Abu
Bakr or Omar or Othman? No, its a pious and loyal day, "Where's Bilal, come
Bilal, pray with me inside the Kabah. No one had prayed in the Kabah with the
Prophet (P.B.U.H.), except one person, Bilal Ibn Rabah. From then on, when Omar
met Bilal he used to say, "Bilal, Abu Bakr is your master, and you are our
master." Omar used to say this to Bilal! Look at what he learnt from the
Prophet (P.B.U.H.).
Once the Prophet asked Bilal, "Bilal, tell me the best deed you have done, as I
heard your footsteps in Paradise."
"I swear the most Ive done is that whenever my ablution was nullified, I would
perform ablution immediately, and I would always pray two Rakas after
ablution. Bilal replied.
That's it Bilal! The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) exclaimed.
Brothers and sisters, do you want to hear your feet walking in Paradise? Dont
move except when you are pure and on ablution. How can you leave your house in
the morning while you are not?
(to be continued) ....
As-salaam Walekum
Adil Khan
Bombay
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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