The first muezzin
December 27, 2024 8:40 AM Subscribe
There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet. Bilal ibn Rabah, a Black citizen of Mecca, was a slave who was tortured by his polytheist owner for professing Islam and sticking to it. His steadfastness in his faith along with his unmistakable, unshakable voice led the Prophet Muhammad SAWS to ask him to be the very first muezzin, the man who calls people to public prayer five times a day.
And it came to be that there was a public call to prayer, or adhan, and Bilal was the one who usually gave it. (Authenticated hadith, otherwise known as an Extremely Reliable Source.)
When the Muslims, commanded by the Prophet SAWS, eventually conquered Mecca in 629 CE, the Prophet SAWS asked Bilal to climb the Ka'aba and call the adhan from there. This infuriated the diehard polytheists of Mecca, many of whom were also racist. For that reason the Prophet SAWS insisted that Bilal be the muezzin of Mecca, a duty and privilege Bilal performed faithfully for many years.
Upon the death of the Prophet SAWS, Bilal was heartbroken. He had prayed salat behind the Prophet SAWS for a long time, a privilege and experience that can't be imagined today. He moved to Damascus shortly thereafter and lived out the rest of his days there.
* Adhan around the world
* Adhan during wartime in Gaza
* Adhan in Hamtramck, Michigan
- Bilal's father was an Arab slave, while his mother, an Abyssinian, was sold into slavery by Yemenis before the time of the Prophet Muhammad SAWS. So Bilal was born into slavery.
- Bilal's owner was Umayyah ibn Khalaf, one of the principal opponents of Islam and the Prophet SAWS. It is thought that Bilal heard about Islam not from the Muslims directly but from Umayyah's frequent complaints about them. It's thought that he converted to Islam around 615 CE, five years after the Prophet SAWS began spreading the message of Islam publicly.
- Umayyah frequently tortured Bilal for professing Islam, promising him that he would stop if Bilal would only recant. Bilal's response, while undergoing torture, was to repeat: ahadun, ahadun, ahadun, which means "One [God)."
- The Prophet SAWS heard about the torture and asked his closest friend, Abu Bakr, to speak to Umayyah. Abu Bakr eventually convinced Umayyah to sell Bilal to him in exchange for three other slaves. Bilal became part of the community of the Prophet SAWS shortly thereafter as a free man.
And it came to be that there was a public call to prayer, or adhan, and Bilal was the one who usually gave it. (Authenticated hadith, otherwise known as an Extremely Reliable Source.)
When the Muslims, commanded by the Prophet SAWS, eventually conquered Mecca in 629 CE, the Prophet SAWS asked Bilal to climb the Ka'aba and call the adhan from there. This infuriated the diehard polytheists of Mecca, many of whom were also racist. For that reason the Prophet SAWS insisted that Bilal be the muezzin of Mecca, a duty and privilege Bilal performed faithfully for many years.
Upon the death of the Prophet SAWS, Bilal was heartbroken. He had prayed salat behind the Prophet SAWS for a long time, a privilege and experience that can't be imagined today. He moved to Damascus shortly thereafter and lived out the rest of his days there.
* Adhan around the world
* Adhan during wartime in Gaza
* Adhan in Hamtramck, Michigan
Very interesting. I have very little knowledge of Islam (very little exposure). Thank you for sharing this.
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:03 AM on December 27
posted by agatha_magatha at 9:03 AM on December 27
One thing I appreciate about my neighborhood, where a lot of Bengali Muslims live, is that I can hear the calls to prayer from my home. They're beautiful, and they give me a moment to pause and reflect. It's not my religion, but it's part of my community, and to me it feels like a positive influence.
posted by limeonaire at 9:05 AM on December 27 [8 favorites]
posted by limeonaire at 9:05 AM on December 27 [8 favorites]
thanks for this!! I love a good historical deepdive.
posted by supermedusa at 9:06 AM on December 27
posted by supermedusa at 9:06 AM on December 27
This appears to be a dramatization of Bilal's call to prayer at Ka'aba
Here is the call to prayer from Abuja, I was searching for Kano but found nothing
posted by ginger.beef at 9:08 AM on December 27 [2 favorites]
Here is the call to prayer from Abuja, I was searching for Kano but found nothing
posted by ginger.beef at 9:08 AM on December 27 [2 favorites]
Flagged as fantastic! Thank you for this post - I learned quite a lot. :)
posted by kimberussell at 9:09 AM on December 27
posted by kimberussell at 9:09 AM on December 27
The Adhan from Gaza
posted by ginger.beef at 9:10 AM on December 27
posted by ginger.beef at 9:10 AM on December 27
This is a lovely story and I'm so glad to have learned about it, but I couldn't help thinking on how immeasurably better the world could have been if the Abrahamic religions had forbidden slavery from the get go.
posted by gwint at 9:37 AM on December 27 [1 favorite]
posted by gwint at 9:37 AM on December 27 [1 favorite]
how immeasurably better the world could have been if the Abrahamic religions had forbidden slavery from the get go.
Challenging the status quo seems like a great way to be eliminated. I figure religion acts more as a mirror than a compass: it reflects the morality of the day, rather than guiding us to immutable truths.
posted by pwnguin at 9:50 AM on December 27 [2 favorites]
Challenging the status quo seems like a great way to be eliminated. I figure religion acts more as a mirror than a compass: it reflects the morality of the day, rather than guiding us to immutable truths.
posted by pwnguin at 9:50 AM on December 27 [2 favorites]
People in the US are tragically ignorant about Islam. I had two years of courses about Islam in college. I had never heard this story. Thanks!!
posted by njohnson23 at 10:10 AM on December 27 [1 favorite]
posted by njohnson23 at 10:10 AM on December 27 [1 favorite]
The call to prayer is my favorite human-made sound. I've chosen many of my travel destinations based significantly on the chance of hearing a unique local variation.
Nearly a decade ago now, a documentarian pal of mine made Cairo in One Breath, a film about Egypt's decision to replace community-based muezzins with a single, state-controlled broadcast. A beautiful and fascinating film about this very specific topic.
Thank you for this post.
posted by mykescipark at 10:29 AM on December 27 [5 favorites]
Nearly a decade ago now, a documentarian pal of mine made Cairo in One Breath, a film about Egypt's decision to replace community-based muezzins with a single, state-controlled broadcast. A beautiful and fascinating film about this very specific topic.
Thank you for this post.
posted by mykescipark at 10:29 AM on December 27 [5 favorites]
For a deep-ish dive on slavery and Islam, check out the four-part podcast series at ImanWire.
In general, for things Islam, try to go to Muslim sources of information first. There are some non-Muslim academics who are doing good work, but many don't understand or haven't read the Qur'an and sunnah (what the Prophet SAWS and his companions and family related) and so they don't have a full picture. And of course the ghost of Orientalism is still very much with us.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:33 PM on December 27 [2 favorites]
In general, for things Islam, try to go to Muslim sources of information first. There are some non-Muslim academics who are doing good work, but many don't understand or haven't read the Qur'an and sunnah (what the Prophet SAWS and his companions and family related) and so they don't have a full picture. And of course the ghost of Orientalism is still very much with us.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 12:33 PM on December 27 [2 favorites]
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posted by limeonaire at 8:58 AM on December 27 [13 favorites]