Demise
Hazrat Bilal (ra) passed away in 20 AH in Damascus, during the Khilafat of Hazrat Umar (ra). According to some narrations, he passed away in Aleppo. At the time, Hazrat Bilal (ra) was over 60 years old. According to some narrations, Hazrat Bilal (ra) passed away in 18 AH. He was buried in a graveyard in Damascus near Bab as-Saghir.
(Tarikh Dimashq al-Kabir li Ibn Asakir, Vol. 10, p. 363, Dhikr man Ismuh Bilal bin Rabah, Dar Ihya al-Turah al-Arabi, Beirut, 2001) (Al-Tabaqat al-Kubra Li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 180)
With regard to Hazrat Bilal’s rank and status, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) states:
“Hazrat Bilal (ra) was an Abyssinian and was not fluent in Arabic. Whilst speaking Arabic, he would make a number of mistakes [in pronunciation]. For example, the natives of Abyssinia would pronounce the Arabic letter ‘sheen’ as ‘seen’. Thus during the Azan, instead of ‘Ash-hadu’, Hazrat Bilal (ra) would say ‘As-hadu’ and the Arabs would laugh at this because they still felt that their own race was superior, even though the Arabs themselves are unable to correctly pronounce certain words of other languages. For example, they are unable to correctly pronounce the word ‘roti’ [flat bread in Urdu] as they would be unable to pronounce the letter ‘ta’ [a letter of the Urdu alphabet which has a strong ‘T’ sound, similar to that in the word ‘tent’]. Similarly, they would be unable to pronounce the ‘ch’ in ‘churi’ [form of bread] and instead would pronounce it as ‘juri’.”
Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra) states:
“Just as certain non-Arab people are unable to correctly pronounce letters of the Arabic language, similarly, the Arabs themselves are unable to correctly pronounce certain letters of other languages. Yet they were so consumed within themselves by the sense of Arab supremacy that they failed to understand that they themselves were unable to pronounce certain letters of other languages. Seeing the Arabs laugh at Hazrat Bilal(ra) for pronouncing ‘Ash-hadu’ as ‘As-hadu’ [in the Azan], the Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘You mock the Azan of Bilal, whereas Allah the Almighty, on His Throne, is pleased with him when he calls the Azan. God Almighty is more delighted by his “As-hadu” than your “Ash-hadu”.’
“Bilal (ra) was an Abyssinian and in those times, Abyssinians were taken as slaves.” In fact, they [natives of Africa] were made slaves in the recent past as well and are even made slaves today. “However, the Holy Prophet (sa) was not from among those people who would subdue or humiliate another nation. According to the Holy Prophet (sa), every nation was equally the creation of God. He loved the Greeks and Abyssinians just as much as he loved the Arabs and would not make any distinction.” He loved Arabs just as he loved Africans and Greeks. “It was this very love shown by him that instilled a deep love for the Holy Prophet (sa) in the hearts of foreign nations; a love that many Arabs were unable to comprehend. These nations developed a deep love for the Holy Prophet (sa), yet those who were unable to comprehend this love and were devoid of wisdom and insight and any sense of loyalty, were unable to fathom what was happening around them.
“The Holy Prophet (sa) was born in Mecca to an Arab tribe and belonged to the tribe of Quraish for that matter – which was considered as the best of all the Arab tribes, and the people of the Quraish would look down upon other Arab tribes and consider them inferior. What relation could there possibly be between the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Abyssinians? If there was a tribe or people that ought to have love for the Holy Prophet (sa), it was the Banu Hashim. If someone ought to have love for him, it ought to be the Quraish or the Arab people as they were his kith and kin. How was it ever possible that a deep love for the Holy Prophet (sa) was ingrained amongst non-Arabs, those nations who suffered defeat at the hands of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) army, or were overthrown by the Islamic Empire?”
There were wars against other nations who were subsequently defeated and their reign was destroyed, but despite this, how did they manage to develop love for the Holy Prophet (sa)?
“They ought to have developed enmity against him. Before we delve into this, let us analyse the love Prophet Jesus’ (as) people had for him. When Prophet Jesus(as) was arrested, the soldiers enquired from Peter – a close disciple of Jesus (as) and whom Jesus (as) appointed as his successor after him – as to why he was following after Jesus (as) and that it seemed as if he was a follower of Jesus (as).” The soldiers became suspicious as he was following them and suspected that he was a follower of Jesus (as), “to which Peter immediately responded out of fear, ‘I am not one of his followers’ and said, ‘I curse him.’
“Not only did he deny knowing him but he also cursed him. There is no doubt that the disciples of Jesus(as) loved him also. Later on, Peter was hanged on the cross in Rome and on this occasion, courageously embraced death and did not hide his love or his obedience to Prophet Jesus (as). However, when Jesus (as) was hanged on the cross, Peter’s faith had not yet strengthened at the time. At that time, he became afraid of facing a small beating, but later he bravely faced being hung on the cross.
“Nevertheless, this was a glimpse of how much love Jesus’ (as) followers had for him. In comparison, we now turn to those slaves who professed belief in the Holy Prophet (sa) and then sacrificed everything for his sake.
“Bilal (ra) was an Abyssinian [former] slave and his love for the Holy Prophet (sa) was such that it had a profound impact upon him. Some people have great love for their beloved but it is only superficial and confined within certain parameters. Thus, we have to see whether the Holy Prophet’s (sa) love for Bilal – who was not only loathed by the Quriash, but in fact, by all the Arabs owing to him being an Abyssinian slave – was simply to make him feel better or did it demonstrate true love?” Was the Holy Prophet’s (sa) expression of love merely as pretence or was it true love? “This can only be determined by Bilal (ra) himself. We cannot make this assessment, rather we have to seek the answer from Bilal (ra) himself because he alone could have truly ascertained this. This incident took place over 1,300 years ago; how could we possibly determine this ourselves? Thus, if we want to seek the answer to this we would have to ascertain this from Bilal (ra) himself whether he perceived this to be a demonstration of true love from the Holy Prophet (sa).
“It is not a question of how I perceive this, or how it was perceived by those who lived a century ago before us, or by those who lived a hundred years before them, nor is it a question of how the companions themselves perceived it.” It is not for others to decide this; not even those who lived in the era of the Holy Prophet (sa), i.e. the companions. “Rather, we have to see how Bilal (ra) himself perceived this and this is reflected by a very concise statement of the Holy Prophet (sa)”, which has previously been mentioned as well, “when he addressed the people and said, ‘You laugh at him saying “As-hadu”, but God Almighty expresses His pleasure upon this in the heavens. His saying “As-hadu” is dearer to Him than your “Ash-hadu”.’ Were these words of the Holy Prophet (sa) – that his ‘As-hadu’ was dearer to Allah than ‘Ash-hadu’ – uttered merely to make him happy and for that occasion alone in order to diffuse the situation or owing to his deep love for him? What we want to know, however, is how did Bilal (ra) perceive this statement? The conclusion that Bilal (ra) drew from this statement was that despite him being a non-Arab and belonging to a people who were perceived inferior to humans and would enslave them, the Holy Prophet (sa) had a bond of deep love and affection for him. If we look a little further on in history, the one who proclaimed:
مَمَاتِیْ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِیْن
‘My death is for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds’ [Surah al-An‘am, Ch.6: V.163] eventually passes away [i.e. the Holy Prophet (sa)] (Allah the Almighty revealed this verse in relation to the Holy Prophet (sa)). After the passing of the Holy Prophet (sa), new governments were established, many new people entered the fold of Islam and many new changes came about. As time passed on, new governments were formed and many other changes occurred and some of the companions migrated hundreds of miles away from the Arab land. All of these changes came about after the demise of the Holy Prophet (sa). Among these companions who migrated was also Bilal (ra), who had migrated to Syria after the Holy Prophet’s (sa) demise and settled in Damascus.
“One day, some people were gathered in Damascus where Hazrat Bilal (ra) resided and stated that during the time of the Holy Prophet (sa), Bilal (ra) would call the Azan and they also desired for Bilal (ra) to call the Azan once again. They asked Hazrat Bilal (ra); however, he refused to call the Azan. Bilal(ra) stated that he would not call the Azan after the Holy Prophet’s (sa) demise because as soon as he would think of calling the Azan, he would be reminded of the blessed era of the Holy Prophet (sa) and he would become extremely emotional and could not contain himself, therefore he would not call the Azan.
Hazrat Umar (ra) was on an official tour and happened to be in Damascus at the time. The people requested Hazrat Umar (ra) if he could ask Bilal (ra) to call the Azan. They stated that among them were those who had seen the Holy Prophet (sa) and their ears were longing to hear the Azan of Bilal (ra) once again and thereby be able to experience the era of the Holy Prophet (sa).” Whenever they would reminisce about the era of the Holy Prophet (sa), they would also recall the Azan of Hazrat Bilal (ra), thus they wished to hear the actual Azan once again so that they could relive those memories again. “They also stated that there were others among them who had not witnessed the era of the Holy Prophet (sa) and had only heard about it, therefore their hearts also desired to hear the Azan of the individual whose Azan was also heard by the Holy Prophet (sa) and he pleased him greatly.
“Hazrat Umar (ra) called for Bilal (ra) and stated, ‘The people desire to hear your Azan.’ Hazrat Bilal (ra) replied, ‘You are the Khalifa of the time; if this is your wish, then I shall call the Azan, but let me tell you that my heart will not be able to withstand the emotions.’ Hazrat Bilal (ra) then stood up and in a loud voice began to call the Azan in exactly the same manner as he would call the Azan during the time of the Holy Prophet (sa). Whilst recalling the era of the Holy Prophet (sa), tears began to flow from the eyes of the companions who were the Arab natives and some even let out a loud cry. Hazrat Bilal (ra) would continue reciting the Azan and people would remember the era of the Holy Prophet (sa) and would be overcome with a state of deep emotion. However, Hazrat Bilal (ra), who was an Abyssinian, who the Arabs used for their own services, and who did not have any blood relation with them nor any brotherly ties with them, what impact did the calling of the Azan have upon his heart?”
The impact it had on the Arabs was that those who had witnessed the era of the Holy Prophet (sa) were once again able to relive those memories, while those Arabs who did not witness that era also became extremely emotional upon recalling the accounts they had heard of that era, or they were deeply moved due to observing the state of the emotions of others at the time. However, what impact did this Azan have upon Hazrat Bilal (ra), who was not an Arab and was a [former] slave?
“It is said that upon concluding the Azan, Hazrat Bilal (ra) fainted – such was the impact it had on him – and after just a few minutes, he passed away. This was the testimony given by those non-Arabs themselves to the claim of the Holy Prophet (sa) that he held no distinction between an Arab and a non-Arab. This indeed was the greatest testimony by the non-Arabs themselves of the immense love and affection they had for the Holy Prophet (sa). The demonstration of this deep love was a true and practical testimony of the Holy Prophet (sa) saying that an Arab and a non-Arab were of an equal status. This was the testimony given by the non-Arabs who heard the loving call of the Holy Prophet (sa) and the profound impact of what they had witnessed had convinced them that even their own people could not give them as much love as the Holy Prophet (sa) had for them.”
(Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 30, pp. 263-267, Friday Sermon, 26 August 1949)
This was our leader Bilal (ra) who established such lofty standards of one’s love and loyalty for the Holy Prophet (sa) and instilling the oneness of Allah the Almighty in the heart and its practical demonstration that these have become a pure and holy model for us to emulate. Likewise, the accounts of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) love and affection for this devotee of his are such that not a single example of it can be found anywhere in the world. It is this very example that can establish a spirit of love, harmony and brotherhood in our society and break the shackles of slavery.
Even today, our salvation can only be found by establishing the oneness of God and by demonstrating those examples of love for the Holy Prophet (sa). May Allah the Almighty enable us to do so.