Bilâl-i Habashî (r.anh)*
Writer: Mutlu BİNİCİ
Translated by Ahmet Osman SOFU
“Jannah (paradise) is in love with three people: Ali, Ammar and Bilal.” (1)
How an elated man Bilâl-i Habashî is. He is heralded with the jannah (paradise) by our Prophet’s (s.a.w.)* saying to him which is "Tell me of the best deed and the one that you are most hopeful for in Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise." (2)
When Hz Abu Bakr (r.anh) was mentioned, Hz Omer (r.anh) would say that “Hz. Abu Bakr is our master and he freed our master (Bilâl-I Habashî)” (3)
Additionally, the prophet (s.a.w.) of Allah said for him: The master of the Muezzins is Bilal, how good a person he is. (4)
Who is Bilâl-i Habashî who is heralded with the paradise by the master of the universe (s.a.w.) , honored by being the first muezzin of Islam and praised by Hz. Omer(r.anh) as our master?
When people came to Bilal (r.a.) and told him how virtuous and good person he was, he was lowering his head and would describe himself as: “I’m just an Ethiopian… and I was a slave up until yesterday” (5)
How a big miracle is that an Ethiopian slave who herded his master’s flock/herd a short time ago, to be dear for Muslims from the every corner of the earth.
A big miracle is that the voices of Azan* called from the minarets five times in a day, reminds us the first muezzin* of the Allah’s Prophet (s.a.w.): Bilal (r.a.).
He is the first muezzin of Islam. (6)
Our Prophet (s.a.w.) describes him with these words: “Bilal is such a magnificent person that nobody besides mu’mins obey to him. He is the master of the muezzins and muezzins will be taller than anybody in the Day of Judgment.” (7)
When the mu’mins* hear the azans, these azans take them to the first days of Islam, the days when Bilal and his friends were dressed with iron armors and their body fats were melted under the glow of the desert, the rocks that are put on their bodies petrified them but couldn’t take their faith from their hearts…
The people from the every corner of the world who are oppressed, tortured and imprisoned today just because they say “Our God is Allah” , sense the excitement of that days and be happy to be “Bilal”, to live like Bilal.
When the voices of azan heard by the poor Muslims who don’t have any fault but being a Muslim and are being destroyed by systems of exploitation by exerting their utmost power, they imagine Bilal who was exposed to various types of torture like themselves. As if Bilal is in front of them and he is calling azan on top of the Qa’bah on the day of the conquest of Maccah. These are the azans that give life to them and herald the upcoming victories and good days.
The thing that wakes us up in the most pleasant period of sleep is the memory of Bilal. How good our prophet (p.b.u.h.) immortalize Bilal by adding his statement of “As-salatu hayru’n-mina’n-nawm” (The prayer is more beneficial than sleeping) to the azans of morning prayers. (8)
When you see the ones who lost their loved-ones and shed tears for only a short time, then forgot their pains and move on their lives, think of Bilal. Think that Bilal who couldn’t bare the separation from rasulullah (p.b.u.h.), couldn’t forget his pain; leave the town of Medina because every land of Medina reminded him our master prophet (p.b.u.h). Think that his pain in his heart did not let him to call azans after the resulullah (p.b.u.h). Think that the bulbul of rasulullah stopped calling, lamented, find the solance in the places of cihad and was able to smile just in his date of death. Only now, you can understand the real love and hear the clamor of a soul that is separated from his loved-one.
Don’t be surprised when you learn that Bilal who had fallen into content because his skin is black, who had underestimated as he is from a foreign race and as a most important fact who had not been regarded as a person just because he is a slave by people up until yesterday; became the treasurer afterwards. With today’s expression: the national exchequer! Yes, he is the national exchequer of the first Islamic State.(9) The exchequer of the Medina Islamic State entrusted to him.
What is the miracle that cause Bilal to get the supreme positions which everyone admire and had his name marked in history by making him a master for people both in the world and hereafter? The Bilal who was humiliated by people as ‘the son of the black woman’ and had seen living and dying as a slave qua his destiny… have you ever thought about it?
Without a doubt, this is the miracle of Islam. If it is not for Islam, who would he be except a simple slave who would wonder around his master’s droves and be forgotten with his death, lost in the mists of times.
However the sincerity in his Iman (Belief), His unique love for Allah and His Rasul (p.b.u.h.) and being patient towards the ordeals and tortures that he faced for the sake of these loves; immortalized his name. Furthermore, this placed him in a special place among the great people of Islam.
that a poet praised Bilal bin Abdullah and said: "Bilal bin Abdullah is better than any other Bilal."
Ibn 'Umar said: “You are lying. The Bilal of the Messenger of Allah is better than any other Bilal." (10)
In all honesty, he is the best Bilal. In his life, he never left our lord (p.b.u.h.) even for a moment. He was a great friend who was bestowed on the messenger of Allah by Allah. He was the Bilal of Resulullah.
May Allah show mercy on the Bilal of Rasulullah (p.b.u.h). May Allah not separate him from Rasulullah (p.b.u.h.) in paradise and may grant us life and death like Bilal. Ameen
Click on the link to read the Turkish translation of the article: https://www.siyerinebi.com/tr/mutlu-binici/bilal-i-habesi-ranh
RadıyAllahu anhu: May Allah be pleased with him
Sallalahu alayhi wa sallam: peace be upon him
Muezzin: The person that calls the Azan
Azan: the call to prayer (for Muslims)
Mu’min, Muslim : Believers of Islam (as a term)
Qa’bah: Special and the holy place of worship for Muslims.
BİBLİOGRAPHY
(1) Zahabî, A'lâmu'n-nubalâ, l, 355.
(2) Buharî, Tahajjud 17; Muslim, Fedâilu's-sahâbe, 108.
(3) Buharî, Fedâilü'l-ashâbi'n-Nebî, 23; İbn-i Sa'd, et- Tabakât, III, 233.
(4) Ebû Nuaym, Hilyetu'l-Avliyâ, I, 147.
(5) İbn-i Sa'd, et- Tabakât, III, 238.
(6)Buhârî, Azân, 1; İbn Hişâm, es-Sîre, II, 509.
(7)İbn Asâkir, Tarîhu Medinet-i Dımesk, X, 461.
(8) DAVUDOGLU, Ahmad, Sahih i Müslim Şarhe II, 560; İbn Mâce, Sünen, I, 237.
(9) İbn Hacer, el-İsâbe, I, 327; İbn Esîr, Usdu'I-ghâbe, I, 243; Hamidullah, Constitutional Law of Islam, 251.
(10) Zehebî, A'lâmu'n-nübelâ, l, 349.