Jihad in Syria
According to some narrations, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Bilal (ra) travelled to Syria in order to take part in Jihad. It has been narrated that Hazrat Bilal (ra) went to Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and said, “O Khalifa of the Messenger (sa)! I heard the Messenger (sa) of Allah say that the best deed of a believer is to serve in Jihad in the way of Allah.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stated, “Bilal (ra), what is it that you desire?” Hazrat Bilal (ra) replied, “I desire to be sent to perform Jihad in the way of Allah and to attain martyrdom.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) replied, “For the sake of Allah and whilst reminding you of my honour and right, I ask you to stay with me, for I have reached an old age and my body has become frail and the time of my demise is very near.” Subsequently, Hazrat Bilal (ra) remained with Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) till his demise.
After the demise of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), Hazrat Bilal (ra) went before Hazrat Umar (ra) and submitted the same request he made to Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra). Hazrat Umar (ra) also gave a similar response to him as Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) did. However, Hazrat Bilal (ra) did not want to accept this and insisted on going for Jihad and continued to request Hazrat Umar (ra). Hazrat Umar (ra) stated to him, “Who will I entrust with the duty of calling the Azan after you?” Hazrat Bilal (ra) proposed the name of Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) as he also called the Azan during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (sa). Hence, Hazrat Umar (ra) entrusted the duty of calling the Azan to Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) and that after him, his progeny would continue rendering this service and permitted Hazrat Bilal (ra) to go for Jihad upon his insistence.
(Ibn Sa‘d, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Bilal bin Rabah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2017] 178)
This has been taken from one narration, but in another narration, it mentions the conversation that took place between Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Bilal (as) was as follows:
Musa bin Muhammad relates on the authority of his father that after the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Bilal (ra) called the Azan and the Holy Prophet (sa) had not been buried yet.
When Hazrat Bilal (ra) recited:
أَشْہَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُولُ اللّٰہِ
[I bear witness that Muhammad (sa) is messenger of Allah] – instead of reciting Ash-hadu, he would say As-hahadu because of his pronunciation – the people inside the mosque began to cry profusely.
When the Holy Prophet (sa) was buried, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) asked Hazrat Bilal (ra) to call the Azan. Hazrat Bilal (ra) replied, “If you freed me so that I remain with you then I will do as you ask of me. However, if you freed me for the sake of Allah then let me do as I please.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stated, “I freed you for the sake of Allah.” Upon this, Hazrat Bilal (ra) submitted, “After the Messenger (sa) of Allah’s demise, I shall not call the Azan for anyone else.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stated to him that this was entirely his choice. Thereafter, Hazrat Bilal (ra) remained in Medina to the point that the armies began to depart for Syria during the era of Hazrat Umar (ra) and Hazrat Bilal (ra) also left with them.
(Ibn Sa‘d, Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3, Bilal bin Rabah [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2017] 178)
According to a narration in Usdul Ghabah, Hazrat Bilal (ra) stated to Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), “If you have freed me for your own sake, then hold me back with you, but if you have freed me for the sake of Allah then permit me to go for Jihad in the way of Allah.” Upon this, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) permitted Hazrat Bilal (ra) to go. Hazrat Bilal (ra) travelled to Syria and remained there till his demise. However, according to most narrations, it states that Hazrat Bilal (ra) left [for Syria] during the Khilafat of Hazrat Umar (ra) and not Hazrat Abu Bakr’s (ra). And according to another narration, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat Bilal (ra) continued to call the Azan during the Khilafat of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra).
(Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usdul-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah, Vol. 1, Bilal bin Rabah (ra) [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al- Ilmiyyah] 416)
In another narration it states that once, Hazrat Bilal (ra) saw the Holy Prophet (sa) in a dream and he said to him, “O Bilal, how inconsiderate of you that you have still not come to visit me?”
Hazrat Bilal (ra), who was in Syria at the time, awoke in a state of deep sorrow and mounted upon his ride and left for Medina right away. Upon arriving at the blessed grave of the Holy Prophet (sa), he began to weep profusely and was overcome with a state of intense anguish. At the same time, Hazrat Hassan (ra) and Hazrat Hussain (ra) also arrived. Hazrat Bilal (ra) kissed them both and embraced them. Hazrat Hassan (ra) and Hazrat Hussain (ra) stated that they wished he could call the Azan for the morning prayer [Fajr]. And so, Hazrat Bilal (ra) climbed the roof of the mosque and according to the narrator, when he recited:
أَللّٰہُ اَکْبَرُ أَللّٰہُ اَکْبَرُ
[Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest], the city of Medina echoed forth with the sound. And when he recited:
أَشْہَدُ أَنْ لَّا اِلٰہَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ
[I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah], the sound reverberated even greater and the people suddenly became restless.
When he recited:
أَشْہَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہِ
[I bear witness that Muhammad (sa) is the Messenger of Allah], even the women came out of their quarters. The narrator states that he had never seen so many men and women cry as he had witnessed that day.
(Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah, Vol. 1, Bilal bin Rabah (ra) [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah] 417)
In other words, the Muslims were reminded of the era of the Holy Prophet (sa) and caused them to be overcome with intense emotion.
During the era of Hazrat Umar’s (ra) Khilafat, when Hazrat Bilal (ra) sought permission to go for Jihad, Hazrat Umar (ra) enquired as to what stopped him from calling the Azan. Upon this, Hazrat Bilal (ra) replied, “I called the Azan upon the instruction of the Holy Prophet (sa) and I continued doing so till his demise. Thereafter, I called the Azan upon the instruction of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) for he was the one who granted me my freedom and I continued to do so until his demise. I heard the Holy Prophet (sa) say, ‘O Bilal, there is no greater form of worship than performing Jihad in the way of Allah.’”
Thus, Hazrat Bilal (ra) left for Syria. Later, when Hazrat Umar (ra) travelled to Syria, Hazrat Bilal (ra) called the Azan upon his instruction. The narrator of the tradition states that he never saw Hazrat Umar (ra) become as emotional as he did that day.
(Ali Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghabah fi Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah, Vol. 1, Bilal bin Rabah (ra) [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah] 416-417)