I say: His son ʿAmr has been numbered among the Companions, and his father likewise should be counted with them, for—as we have mentioned—he embraced Islam. However, we have no report that he ever emigrated or that he met the Prophet ﷺ.

76 – Bilal ibn Rabah — may Allah be pleased with him
The freedman of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
His mother was Hamamah.
He was the Messenger of Allah’s muezzin.
One of the earliest pioneers who were tortured for Allah’s sake, he fought at Badr, and the Prophet ﷺ specifically testified that he is destined for Paradise. His hadiths are recorded in the standard collections.
Those who transmitted from him include Ibn ʿUmar, Abu ʿUthman al-Nahdi, al-Aswad, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, and many others.
His virtues are numerous; the hadith master Ibn ʿAsakir has set them out in detail.
He lived a little over sixty years.
It is said that he was Abyssinian, though another view holds that he was born in the Hijaz.
There are differing opinions about his death; one states that it occurred in Darayya in the year 20 AH.

ʿAsim related—from Zar—from ʿAbd Allah:
“The first to declare their Islam openly were seven: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr, ʿAmmar and his mother Sumayyah, Bilal, Suhayb, and al-Miqdad.
As for the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr, Allah protected them through their clans, whereas the rest were seized by the polytheists, …”