Bilal ibn Rabah
بلال بن رباح
c. 580 CE – c. 640 CE · c. 19 AH† †
† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.
An Abyssinian-born slave in Mecca, among the earliest converts; freed by Abu Bakr and remembered as the first muezzin of Islam — the voice that called the community to prayer.
At a glance
- Roles
- Companion
- Counted among
- Sunni
- Era
- The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
- Region
- Arabia · Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Slavery and freedomRace, colour and ethnicityWorship and the pillars
Place in the story
- Convert to Islam · c. 612 CETradition
- Victim · c. 612 CE – c. 615 CETradition
- Companion · c. 612 CETradition
Sunni (transmitted)
How others named them
- “Sayyid al-Mu'adhdhinin (master of the muezzins)” — Islamic tradition
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Bilal ibn Rabah was an Abyssinian-born slave in Mecca and one of the first Muslims. Tortured for his faith and ransomed by Abu Bakr, he became the community's muezzin — the first voice ever to call Muslims to prayer.
Life
Born in Mecca to an enslaved Abyssinian mother about 580 CE 1, Bilal embraced Islam while still owned by Umayya ibn Khalaf, who had him dragged over the burning sands. Tradition tells that he answered the torture with "One, One" — until Abu Bakr bought and freed him 2.
In Medina the Prophet chose him as muezzin. He fought at The Battle of Badr, and after the The Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka) he is remembered calling the adhan from the roof of the Kaaba itself 1. After the Prophet's death he served in Syria; the sources differ on whether he died there or in Medina, around 640 CE 1.
Legacy
Bilal stands at the meeting point of three histories: slavery and freedom, Africa and Arabia, and the soundscape of Islam — every adhan in the world descends, in memory, from his voice.
For young visitors
Bilal was enslaved and tortured for what he believed, and would not stop saying "One." He became the first person ever to call the Muslim prayer — and his call is still heard today.
Connections
- Born in
- Mecca
- Member of
- The early Muslim community
- Converted under
- Muhammad
- Persecuted by
- Umayya ibn Khalaf
- Participated in
- The HijraThe Battle of BadrThe Conquest of Mecca (Fath Makka)The three years of the secret callThe Farewell Sermon at ArafatThe cleansing of the Kaaba and destruction of idolsThe persecution of the vulnerable Muslims
People and things also explored
MeccaMuhammadAbdullah ibn Mas'udAbu Ubayda ibn al-JarrahUmar ibn al-KhattabQurayshThe Prophetic EraAbu Bakr al-Siddiq
Sources
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Bilal ibn Rabah”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/bilal-ibn-rabah/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.