Bilal, Story of Islam's First Muezzin

 I, Bilal, slave of Umaya, will tell you of days to be wondered at. I was present - twenty-two years present - when Mohammad, the Messenger of God, walked the earth. I heard what he said and saw what he did. . . " Bilal is the story of Islam's first Muezzin - the caller to prayer. Bilal was born in Mecca, the son of an Abyssinian slave called Rabah; in a city of idol-worship, he was tortured for his belief in one God; he was bought and freed from slavery by Mohammad's close friend, Abu Bakr; he had the responsibility for the food supply of the first, small armies of Islam; he was so close to the Prophet that he had the duty of waking him in the morning. From the day of Bilal's conversion, every event in Mohammad's life was an event in the life of Bilal. Mohammad (peace be unto him) called Bilal 'a man of paradise'.