Bilal ibn Rabah (may God be pleased with him) was one of the first Muslims, born in Mecca to an Abyssinian mother. His people hurt him for his faith and he kept saying 'One, One' until Abu Bakr bought him and freed him. The Prophet chose him as the muezzin — the first voice to call Muslims to prayer — and his call is still heard around the world today.
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Bilal ibn Rabah
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Bilal ibn Rabah (may God be pleased with him) was an Abyssinian born in Mecca about 580 CE who became Muslim while a slave of Umayya ibn Khalaf, who hurt him on the burning sands of Mecca; the account says he kept saying 'One, One' until Abu Bakr bought and freed him. In Medina the Prophet ﷺ chose him as muezzin; he was at Badr, and is remembered calling the adhan on the Ka'ba itself the day Mecca was conquered. After the Prophet's death he served in Syria, and the sources differ whether he died there or in Medina about 640 CE. Bilal stands where three histories meet: slavery and freedom, Africa and Arabia, and the sound of Islam — every adhan is traced in memory to his voice.
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