Difficulties Faced After Accepting Islam

In his book Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin [The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa)] Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib (ra) writes about the difficulties endured by Hazrat Bilal (ra) in the following manner:

“Bilal bin Rabah (ra) was the Abyssinian slave of Umayyah bin Khalf. In the scorching heat of the afternoon, when the rocky ground of Mecca burned like a furnace, Umayyah would take him out and strip him of his clothes. He would lie him down then place very large burning rocks on his chest and say, ‘Worship Lat and Uzza, and abandon Muhammad, or I shall punish you to death.’ Bilal (ra) knew little Arabic. He would only respond saying: ‘Ahad, Ahad’, meaning, ‘Allah is one, Allah is one.’ This response would further infuriate Umayyah and he would tie a rope around his neck and hand him over to the miscreants of Mecca who would drag him throughout the stony streets of Mecca until his body would become drenched in blood. But no word except ‘Ahad, Ahad’ would come to his tongue. When Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) saw the persecution of this slave, he purchased him for a hefty price and set him free.”

(Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), p. 140)