The Spear of the Holy Prophet (sa) on Eid
Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) narrates that on the occasion of Eid, a person would be appointed to walk ahead of the Holy Prophet (sa) with a spear in his hand and this duty would mostly be assigned to Hazrat Bilal (ra).
Muhammad bin Amr narrates that Hazrat Bilal (ra) would dig the spear into the ground – in those days, the Eid Gah would be an open plain.
(Ibn Sa‘d, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Bilal bin Rabah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2017] 177)
According to a narration, the King of Abyssinia [Negus] sent three spears to the Holy Prophet (sa) as a gift. The Holy Prophet (sa) kept one for himself and from among the remaining two, he gave one to Hazrat Ali bin Abi Talib (ra) and one to Hazrat Umar bin Khattab (ra). On the occasions of Eid, Hazrat Bilal (ra) would walk ahead of the Holy Prophet (sa) whilst carrying the spear, which the Holy Prophet (sa) had kept for himself and would then dig it into the ground. The Holy Prophet (sa) would then pray in its direction. It is further narrated that after the Holy Prophet’s (sa) demise, Hazrat Bilal (ra) continued this practice of carrying the spear and would walk ahead of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra).
(Ibn Sa‘d, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Bilal bin Rabah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2017] 178)