Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 47
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 47 Companions of the Holy Prophet. Of the slaves and freedmen who believed in Islam at this stage, the most outstanding was Bilal bin Rabah, owned by Umayya bin Khalf who, on Bilal’s becoming a Muslim, used to persecute him savagely. He would take him out during the noon - day heat and make him lie down on the burning sand, would put hot pieces of stone on his chest and urge him to deny the Unity of God; but Bilal would continue to repeat ‘Ahad, Ahad’ (‘One, One’). Abu Bakr took pity on him and purchased his freedom from Umayya. After the Migration to Medina, he was appointed the first muezzin by the Holy Prophet. After the latter’s death Bilal gave up calling the Azan as it reminded him too poignantly of the beloved Prophet. After the fa ll of Damascus in the time of Hazrat Umar Bilal was persuaded to call the Azan once more, which he did and which plunged everyone present into a paroxysm of grief. Umar held him in such high esteem that when Bilal died Umar observed, ‘Today the Muslims hav e been bereaved of their chief. ’ Aamir bin Fuhairah was another slave whose freedom was procured by Abu Bakr and who became his servant. Khabbab bin Arat was a freedman who worked as a blacksmith in Mecca and had become an early convert to Islam. The wives and children of these early believers were generally included along with them among the Muslims. Those who have been specially mentioned in this context are Asmaa, daughter of Abu Bakr; Fatima, daughter of Khattab, wife of Saeed bin Zaid; and Um Fazal, wife of Abbas, uncle of the Holy Prophet. Curiously, Abbas himself had not so far become a Muslim.