A society where we were plunged into the depth of ignorance and barbarism, a culture where any race had no value unless you belonged to one of the lineages from a noble tribe. A society where people spoke evil of women and ate the substance of orphans.

Where everyone and others were facing the same heat, Bilal(R) was not an exception.

And this is the topic I am going to talk about today. 

Bilal(RA) was one of the best companions of Prophet Muhammad (s) I have studied. His full name was Bilal Ibn Rabah. Honestly, speaking about Bilal (RA) in these few minutes will be unjust for him, so the audience, please forgive me.

Bilal's father's name was Rabah, and he was an Arab and not born as a slave person. Bilal's mother's name was Hamama, and she was a former princess from Abyssinia, and she too wasn't born as a slave woman. Both of Bilal's parents became slaves in the year of Aamul Feel. It's a long story about how his parents became slaves, but I will not touch on this topic right now, I will keep it for some other time.

Bilal ibn Rabah's master was Ummiaya ibn Khalaf, a strong enemy of Islam, and I am sure many of us are aware of his torture of Prophet Muhammad SAW and his companion.

Bilal ibn Rabah didn't become Muslim because someone gave him dawah. He became Muslim when he overheard his master talking with some people against the Prophet Muhammad and his message. Once Bilal heard about Muhammad (s) and his message, he started to believe based upon his fitrah that his message was the truth. 

Because of his belief, he was tortured. He was tied up in a room dehydrated and not given any food or water. His master would put an idol in front of him and tell him to kiss it and say, "say you believe in their idols Laat and Uzza ''. His master would even spit at him and humiliate him. He would say yabnas Sauda, son of a black woman, which was another slur against racism even if they knew that his father was an Arab. Bilal(RA) had only one line response to all those tortures, AHADUN-AHAD(One, and only). Even though he almost died due to torture, that did not stop him from repeating again and again AHADUN-AHAD. He never uttered the words Umayyah wanted him to speak, even with big rocks on his chest.

Bilal was then bought and freed by Abu Bakr, who the Prophet sent. From this moment on, Bilal becomes one of the Prophet's most respected and beloved companions.

Allah (SWT) liked these two words so much that his status was elevated more than many of the noble tribes at that time. Allah (SWT) did not care about his skin tone, lineage, or wealth.

All of us know his status in Islam, and he is one of the role models for many Muslim youths. Let me go over a few of his statuses.

He was the first Muadhin in Madinah.
He was the first Muadhin in Haram when Makkah was conquered by the Muslims.
Umar (RA) used to call him Bilal Saiyyduna; Bilal is the master freed by our master, even if Umar (RA) was from one of the best tribes in Makkah.

Generations after generation, Bilal is still loved very much among the Muslims even to this very day. Many children are named Bilal

I am going to conclude with a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari

At the time of the Fajr prayer, the Prophet (ﷺ) asked Bilal, "Tell me of the best deed you did after embracing Islam, for I heard your footsteps in front of me in Paradise." Bilal replied, "I did not do anything worth mentioning except that whenever I performed wudu during the day or night, I prayed after that wudu as much as was written for me."