89 — ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ayyūb, Abū Jaʿfar, ⦗119⦘ narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishāq, who said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr narrated to me, from his father, who said:

Waraqah ibn Nawfal would pass by Bilāl while he was being tortured and saying, “One! One!” Waraqah would say, “One! One! Allah, O Bilāl!” Then Waraqah would turn to Umayyah ibn Khalaf and those of Banū Jumah who were doing this to Bilāl and say, “I swear by Allah, if you kill him for this, I shall make his grave a place where mercy is sought.”

One day, Abū Bakr al-Siddīq ibn Abī Quhāfah passed by while they were treating Bilāl this way. Abū Bakr’s house was among Banū Jumah. He said to Umayyah, “Will you not fear Allah concerning this poor man? How long will this continue?”

He replied, “You corrupted him, so rescue him from what you see!”

Abū Bakr said, “I will. I have a black slave who is sturdier than he is and stronger, and who follows your religion. I will give him to you in exchange.”

He said, “I accept.”

Abū Bakr said, “He is yours.” He gave him that slave, took Bilāl, and freed him.

Before emigrating from Mecca, he also freed six other slaves on account of their Islam—Bilāl being the seventh. They included ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah, who fought at Badr and Uhud and was killed as a martyr at Biʾr Maʿūnah; Umm ʿUbays; and Zinnayrah, who lost her sight when he freed her. Quraysh said, “Nothing ⦗120⦘ but al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā has taken away her sight!”

She replied, “May they burn! By the House of Allah, al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā can neither harm nor benefit.” Allah then restored her sight.

He also freed al-Nahdiyyah and her daughter, who belonged to a woman of Banū ʿAbd al-Dār. He passed by them after their mistress had sent them to grind grain for her. She was saying, “By Allah, I will never free you two!”

Abū Bakr said, “Relent, mother of so-and-so!”

She replied, “Relent? You corrupted them, so free them yourself!”

He asked, “How much do you want for them?”

She said, “Such-and-such an amount.”

He said, “I have bought them, and they are both free. Return her flour to her.”

They asked, “Or shall we finish grinding it, Abū Bakr, and then return it to her?”

He replied, “You may do that instead, if you wish.”

Abū Bakr also passed by a slave woman belonging to Banū Muʾammal, a clan of Banū ʿAdī ibn Kaʿb. She was a Muslim, and ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb was torturing her to make her abandon Islam. He was then a polytheist. He would beat her until he grew weary, then say, “I owe you an apology: I have only stopped because I am weary. May Allah deal with you!”

She would reply, “May Allah deal with you likewise!” Abū Bakr bought her and freed her.

ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir spoke the following verses about Bilāl and his companions, the suffering they endured, and Abū Bakr’s freeing them. Abū Bakr’s name was ʿAtīq:

[Tawīl metre]

May Allah reward ʿAtīq with good for Bilāl and his companions,
And bring disgrace upon Fākih and Abū Jahl,
For that evening when those two subjected Bilāl to shameful abuse,
Heedless of what a man of reason ought to fear,
Because he proclaimed the oneness of the Lord of all creation,
And calmly declared: I bear witness that Allah is my Lord.
If they kill me, then let them kill me; never would I
Associate partners with the Most Merciful for fear of death.
O Lord of Abraham, of Your servant Jonah,
Of Moses and Jesus, deliver me, and grant no further respite
To those of Ghālib’s descendants who persist in loving error,
With neither righteousness nor justice in their deeds.