Bilal in the viewpoint of Hazrat Fatimah (A.S)
Hazrat Zahra (A.S) regarded Bilal as alert, aware of the time and intelligent person towards the hidden and visible phenomena of the society, and as one who had enlightening insight. Hence, she never said any word and made any complain of Bilal in any aspect of his support for Velayat, and always admired the language and the methods of his dealing with the usurpers.
That intelligence and this awareness made him to make no compromise with usurpers even for a moment; and with all the ability he had, in starting any fight he would go through right analysis and deep understanding.
The day that the news of the end of Saqifa session was spread and Abu Bakr became the Khalif, as Bilal was very deeply sad and in mourning. While he was sitting in God’s Messenger Mosque and was thinking about the tragedy of Prophet’s death which was so grave and unamendable, at this time Abu Bakr entered the Mosque and it was the time for Azan. Every one was waiting to hear the voice of Bilal so they can hear the prophetic message of monotheism through his voice just as they could hear it in time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). But Bilal was silent and sitting in a corner of the Mosque. So they came to him and told him; Bilal! Azan! Azan! And he courageously answered: ”from now I will not say Azan anymore, "it is better to choose some one else for this task. Then Abu Bakr came to him and told him: ”Bilal get up and start saying Azan!”Bilal with insight and intuition answered: NO! When he heared Abu Bakr saying ”why Bilal?” He responded: ”if you have freed me from the hands of Umayyah to have me as your slave then I am at your service, but if you freed me for the sake of God, then leave me alone.” But when he heard Abu Bakr saying: ”for the sake of God.” Then he responded: ”after the death of the Prophet I will say no Azan for anyone else.” (17)
Yes! Bilal stood up against the lords of power, gold and deception, and explicitly responded to them: ”after the death of the Prophet I will say no Azan for anyone else.
But when the daughter of the Prophet (PBUH) in order to recall the grandeur of the Glorious Islam in her father’s period, she said: "I very much like to hear the voice of Bilal the muezzin of my father’s time," (18) Bilal obeyed wholeheartedly and again resonated his voice in the Medina area. The phrase of " Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar rasoolullah” brought the heart of the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to trembling , her tears flowed down and as it is said, she sighed of grief and fell to the ground and went unconscious . Then the news reached Bilal that he must stop Azan for the daughter of Prophet has gone unconscious. Bilal came down from the rooftop in a hurry and went to Hazrat Fatimah (A.S) to see how she is. When she became conscious, she said: ”Bilal! Continue your Azan!” Bilal who knew of the boundless love of Fatimah for her father, said: ”Oh! Daughter of our dear Prophet, please excuse me of this task, for I am concerned about your health and I fear that harm may be inflicted upon you.” (19)
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Foot notes
17. Bilal, a spokesman for the movement of the Prophet (PBUH), page 3.
18. Ehqaq ul-Haq, page 153; the book of Man La Yahzerah al-Faqih, page 297; Bihar ul-Anvar, page 157.
19. Bihar ul-Anvar, page 158.
Other links:
Who is Mukhtar Thaqafi: part 1
Who is Mukhtar Thaqafi: part 2
Martyrdom of Ammar Ibn Yasir: part 1
Martyrdom of Ammar Ibn Yasir: part 2
Martyrdom of Ammar Ibn Yasir: part 3
