al-Aslami. Ibn al-Athir inclined to this view, and Allah knows best. He has a narration concerning the civil strife (1). Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir said: he died in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of the year 20 AH.
Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ al-Ḥabashī (2), the mu’adhdhin and the freedman of Abū Bakr—also known as Bilāl ibn Ḥamāmah, Ḥamāmah being his mother—embraced Islam early on. He was tortured for Allah’s sake yet remained steadfast until al-Ṣiddīq bought him and set him free. He was present at Badr and every battle thereafter (3).
ʿUmar used to say, “Abū Bakr is our master, and he freed our master,” a report recorded by al-Bukhārī (4).
When the adhān was ordained in Madinah, Bilāl was the one who would call it before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, alternating with Ibn Umm Maktūm—sometimes this one, sometimes that. Bilāl’s voice was soft and beautiful, his pronunciation clear, and the saying “Bilāl’s sīn is a shīn in Allah’s sight” has no authentic basis. On the Day of the Conquest he gave the adhān from the roof of the Kaʿbah.
After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away he ceased calling the adhān. It is said that he called it for al-Ṣiddīq during his caliphate, but this is unsound. He later went to Syria for jihād, and when ʿUmar reached al-Jābiyah Bilāl called the adhān before him after the khuṭbah for the ẓuhr prayer, whereupon the people burst into tears. It is also reported that he visited Madinah during that period and called the adhān there, and the people wept bitterly—and rightly so—may Allah be pleased with him.
It is authentically established (5) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Bilāl, “I entered Paradise and heard the rustling of your sandals ahead of me; tell me the deed you hope for most.” He replied, “I never perform wuḍūʾ without praying two rakʿahs.” The Prophet said, “That is it.” In another wording: “Whenever I invalidate my ablution I renew it, and whenever I perform wuḍūʾ I feel I should pray two rakʿahs.”
They said that Bilāl was dark-skinned (7), very black of complexion, tall, lean, and hairy, with sparse sideburns. Ibn Bukayr stated that he died in Damascus during the Plague of ʿAmwās in 18 AH. Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq and others maintained that he died in 20 AH. Al-Wāqidī said he was buried at Bāb al-Ṣaghīr when he was a little over sixty. Others said he died at Dāriyya and was buried at Bāb Kīsān; another view is that he was buried at Dāriyya, and yet another that he died in Aleppo. The first opinion is sounder, and Allah knows best.
Saʿīd ibn ʿĀmir ibn Ḥidhyam (8): one of the nobles of Banū Jumah, he was present at Khaybar, was renowned for his asceticism and devotion, and served as a governor