Salaam alaykom respected readers,
As a convert you would have thought I gave the attention to the story of Bilal ibn Rabah, however it really didn't hit me as a story to read or reflect on until recently. I went to go on my search to find his story and found that it was hard to find any shia sources on his life.
I came to realise that Bilal's story was not just a convert story but it was a story of beauty, strength, obedience and a love for Allah we all pray we have one day. Bilal's story has not been realised by many of us, in fact his amazing journey is not just for converts, those of different race but it is a story for us all!
Bilal was tortured by his “master” so bad that he even had heavy bolder put on him, but Bilal refused to say that there was other Gods. He repeated that statement over and over that there is only One God. He was eventually saved by our Holy Prophet when he sent someone to buy him. After this Bilal was given freedom and was only a slave to Allah. How beautiful is this part of his life. He gave up all the religions around him for the true religion and endured so much physical pain but only had his spiritual become stronger through it, SubhanAllah!
Bilal was appointed by our Holy Prophet sawa to do the job of a muezzim which is the one that calls people to prayer, this was a beautiful spiritual journey to call all to prayer as his nearness to Allah was becoming stronger and stronger by doing what Allah wanted from all of us. He obeyed Allah by obeying the Holy Prophet sawa. The most important part I believe in his life was that after the Holy Prophet sawa passed away.
Bilal did not give bay'ah to Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab grabbed Bilal by his clothes and said,
Is this the reward of Abu Bakr; he emancipated you and you are now refusing to pay allegiance to him?
To which Bilal replied,
If Abu Bakr had emancipated me for the pleasure of Allah, then let him leave me alone for Allah; and if he had emancipated me for his service, then I am ready to render him the services required. But I am not going to pay allegiance to a person whom the Messenger of God had not appointed as his caliph.
(Source Riz̤vī, Sayyid Sa'eed Ak̲h̲tar. Slavery: From Islamic & Christian Perspectives. Richmond, British Columbia: Vancouver Islamic Educational Foundation, 1988. Print. ISBN 0-920675-07-7 Pg. 35-36)
Similarly, al-Isti'ab, a Sunni source, states that Bilal told Abu Bakr:
If you have emancipated me for yourself, then make me a captive again; but if you had emancipated me for Allah, then let me go in the way of Allah.
This was said when Bilal wanted to go for Jihad. Abu Bakr then let him go."
(Source: ibd wa Abdullah, Ysuf. al-Isti'ab. Print. Pg.150)
Being exiled from Medina by Umar and Abu Bakr, Bilal migrated to Syria.
I say this might be the most important part in his life because right now we can all relate to this time. A time where we must stand strong like Bilal, stand firm in obedience to Allah, obedience to our holy Prophet sawa, obedience to our imam of our time (Allah hasten his reappearance). We need to really look at ourselves and ask ourselves have we given our life like amazing people like Bilal? Have we been given the boulder of life and refused to submit to the wrong path? Have we been exile from the land to be obedient to Allah?
May Allah swt grant us strong and firm faith to be obedient and to be strong in our faith, to follow the right way and to be granted a nearness to Allah like that of great personalities like Bilal. Ameen.
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