Sayyedna Bilal — Page 18
18. SAYYEDNA BILAL an exalted status. By enduring all sorts of atrocities and humiliation in the path of love for Allah and his. Prophet Bilal set an example and lit a beacon light which will shine till the end of the world for the seekers after Truth and Righteousness. He knew well the consequences of renouncing idol worship and offering devotion to the One God - Allah, yet so deep was the imprint of a righteous life and the unparalleled moral example of the Prophet upon his heart that no degree of savage oppression and violence could blot it out. . It is stated that Abu Bakr bought Bilal on the advice of Allah's Messenger. The Prophet also offered him half of the price in order to mitigate the burden of Abu Bakr. But he begged pardon from the. Prophet for not accepting his offer and Abu Bakr himself emancipated Bilal. He then appointed Bilal as his store- keeper. While Bilal was serving Abu Bakr, he was fortunate in that he was taught how to read and write by Abu Bakr himself. In those days ink for writing was prepared manually, by dissolving certain dyes into water. One day while Bilal was busy preparing ink with his hands, Abu Bakr entered the room, walked upto Bilal, gently took hold of his hands and kissed them. Bilal taken aback, retrieved his hands. Kissing someone's hands, among the. Arabs was an expression of extreme reverence. Bilal could make out no cause for this kind of gesture from Abu Bakr, his emancipator. Seeing Bilal bewildered Abu Bakr proceeded to explain, I have heard from the Messenger of Allah, that the ink of a scholar's pen is holier than the blood of a martyr. . Later on Bilal served the Messenger of Allah.