Bigi
Bigi (Musa Yarullah Bigi) (December 24, 1874 - 1949). Volga-Ural Muslim philosopher and religious scholar. Born in Rostov on the Don, Bigi was the son of the mullah Yarullah Devlikam, originally from the Kikine village of Penza Gubernia, and of Fatma, the daughter of Imam Habibullah of the same village. He attended the Kulbue madrasah in Kazan but left without graduating and returned to Rostov to enroll in the Russian science gymnasium from which he graduated in 1895, when he left for Bukhara to continue his Islamic studies. After four years, he returned to Rostov only to leave again for an extended Middle Eastern trip.
Bigi traveled to Istanbul and then to Cairo, where he studied at al-Azhar and attended classes offered by Muhammad ‘Abduh. After four years, studying Islamic philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence, he returned to Rostov and married, but instead of seeking employment as a mullah or madrasah teacher and settling down, he left his wife Asma in his mother’s care and went to St. Petersburg to attend classes at the Law Faculty. As a scholar interested in tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis) and fiqh (law), he wanted to acquire the knowledge necessary to compare the Islamic and Western legal systems. Bigi’s closer acquaintance with Russian society during his stay in St. Petersburg resulted in a politicization of his thought and a deeper appreciation of Islam as a political force. While in St. Petersburg (1905-1917), he contributed eighteen essays to the Pan-Islamist journal Ulfat. He continued, however, to dedicate most of his time to research and scholarly writing, and his only active involvement in politics was the contribution he made as secretary to the Muslim Congress.
In 1910 and 1911, Bigi was employed as teacher of Arabic and Islamic history and theology at the Khosaeniya madrasah in Orenburg. As a scholar and teacher, Bigi was an exemplary practitioner of ijtihad (interpretation of Islam), but some of his interpretations were considered so far-fetched by the religious establishment that he was forced to leave Orenburg, despite the support of the well-respected scholar Rizaeddin Fakhreddin.
The revolutions of 1917 triggered Bigi’s hope for the beginning of an era of freedom for Muslims, and he chose not to leave Russia. Soon, however, he was to face bitter disappointment. In response to Bukharin’s "ABC of Communism," Bigi wrote in 1920 an “ABC of Islam” (Islam alifbasi), which he presented to the Congress of Scholars in Ufa. Of the work’s 236 points, 68 concerned the situation of the Muslims in Russia, and the remainder were devoted to Muslims elsewhere. The government retaliated with arrest and imprisonment, but after three months Bigi was released owing to a press campaign launched in Turkey and Finland on his behalf. Despite this experience, Bigi chose to stay in Soviet Russia and in 1926 participated in the Muslim Congress at Mecca representing his country. A year later he received permission to perform the pilgrimage. Bigi returned to Russia after this trip as well, because he still believed that he could serve his people by fighting to keep their heritage alive.
By 1930, however, even the idealist Bigi understood that all doors had been closed and neither political nor cultural pluralism was acceptable to the leaders of Soviet Russia. Consequently, he left his wife and six children behind and fled Russia. He stopped in Chinese Turkestan and then went to Afghanistan and India; in 1931 he traveled to Egypt and Finland; and in 1932 he took part in the first Congress of Turkish History in Ankara. The years of 1933 to 1937 took Bigi to Finland, Germany, and the Middle East, while in 1938 he traveled to China and Japan. In 1939, he went to India and Afghanistan with the intention of settling in the latter, but after being imprisoned by the British for eighteen months, he went to India instead. Bigi remained there until 1947, when he went to Egypt. He died there on October 25, 1949, having spent his last days in poverty in a charitable hospice.
Musa Yarullah Bigi left 122 works. The majority were written in Arabic and were devoted to issues of Islamic theology and jurisprudence; others addressed the social, political, and religious life of the Muslims of Russia and were written in Tatar. Several of his scholarly endeavors should be noted as illustrations of Bigi’s qualities as mujtahid. In Sherhu’l-luzumiyat, a volume of commentaries on the work of the tenth-century Islamic poet and philosopher al-Ma’ari, he argued, sharing al-Ma’ari’s skepticism, that none of the existing religions could be pleasing to God because they all contained moral if not physical oppression.
Bigi pursued the same iconoclastic line of thought in Rahmat-i ilahiya burhannari (The Storms of God’s Clemency), which challenged the official dogma that God’s mercy and forgiveness were not extended to unbelievers, arguing that on the contrary, God extended his forgiveness to everyone. Bigi was attacked by conservative ‘ulama’ through their publication Din va magishat (Religion and Life), as well as by liberal mullahs and jaded (modernist) intellectuals. One of the most vocal criticisms coming from the jaded reformers was articulated by Ismail Gasprali (Gasprinskii) in his article “Woe from Philosophy.” Fakhreddin was among the few defenders of Bigi, but he stated the issue from a different perspective, pointing to the historical precedents for the same interpretation.
When he discovered editorial changes in one of the copies of the Qur’an, Bigi was relentless in his criticism of mullahs, arguing that the changes reflected the ignorance of those who had tampered with the original text, whom he attacked in Tarikhu’l Qur’an va’l-masahif (A History of the Qur’an and Qur’anic Texts). Bigi also advocated translation of the Qur’an into Tatar, which he felt would contribute to making individual religious experience a more meaningful and conscientious act. He stressed that in a civilized world, it was the duty of the community to translate the Qur’an into the languages of the people and to ascertain the accuracy of existing translations. Bigi himself worked on a Tatar translation of the Qur’an, but it may have been destroyed together with his personal archives after his departure from Russia.
Bigi wrote extensively on issues concerning the position of women in Islam (Khatun, Aila masalalare, Hukuku’n-nisa fi’l-Islam); Sunnah and sharia‘ah (Kitabu’s-sunna); Shariat esaslari; and the social and political life of Russian Muslims (Islahat esaslari; Khalq nazarinda bir nicha masale). His most important contributions to Islamic thought, however, are his ijtihad works, of which two more deserve attention: Uzun kunlarde ruza (Fasting during Long Days), and Buyuk mevzularda ufak fikirlar (Small Thoughts on Big Issues). In the first essay, he discusses the ritual obligation of fasting with regard to Muslims living in the far north where the length of daylight and darkness does not coincide with that of the Islamic heartlands and renders a sharp criticism to dogmatics. In the second, he criticizes those who opposed Sufism and Sufi brotherhoods. Bigi valued the philosophical message of mysticism and was interested in the Sufi orders, and even in Christian monasticism.
Despite the breadth and originality of his thoughts and writings, Bigi did not have a strong impact on either Islamic thought in Russia or elsewhere, probably in large part because the door to Islamic studies was closed in Russia after 1917, and his works remained unknown. After leaving his country, he was socially and intellectually an outsider; although he was respected for his knowledge, his wanderings prevented him from planting the seeds of his ijtihad thought firmly in the soil of any Muslim country.
Musa Yarullah Bigi see Bigi
Bigi (Musa Yarullah Bigi) (December 24, 1874 - 1949). Volga-Ural Muslim philosopher and religious scholar. Born in Rostov on the Don, Bigi was the son of the mullah Yarullah Devlikam, originally from the Kikine village of Penza Gubernia, and of Fatma, the daughter of Imam Habibullah of the same village. He attended the Kulbue madrasah in Kazan but left without graduating and returned to Rostov to enroll in the Russian science gymnasium from which he graduated in 1895, when he left for Bukhara to continue his Islamic studies. After four years, he returned to Rostov only to leave again for an extended Middle Eastern trip.
Bigi traveled to Istanbul and then to Cairo, where he studied at al-Azhar and attended classes offered by Muhammad ‘Abduh. After four years, studying Islamic philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence, he returned to Rostov and married, but instead of seeking employment as a mullah or madrasah teacher and settling down, he left his wife Asma in his mother’s care and went to St. Petersburg to attend classes at the Law Faculty. As a scholar interested in tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis) and fiqh (law), he wanted to acquire the knowledge necessary to compare the Islamic and Western legal systems. Bigi’s closer acquaintance with Russian society during his stay in St. Petersburg resulted in a politicization of his thought and a deeper appreciation of Islam as a political force. While in St. Petersburg (1905-1917), he contributed eighteen essays to the Pan-Islamist journal Ulfat. He continued, however, to dedicate most of his time to research and scholarly writing, and his only active involvement in politics was the contribution he made as secretary to the Muslim Congress.
In 1910 and 1911, Bigi was employed as teacher of Arabic and Islamic history and theology at the Khosaeniya madrasah in Orenburg. As a scholar and teacher, Bigi was an exemplary practitioner of ijtihad (interpretation of Islam), but some of his interpretations were considered so far-fetched by the religious establishment that he was forced to leave Orenburg, despite the support of the well-respected scholar Rizaeddin Fakhreddin.
The revolutions of 1917 triggered Bigi’s hope for the beginning of an era of freedom for Muslims, and he chose not to leave Russia. Soon, however, he was to face bitter disappointment. In response to Bukharin’s "ABC of Communism," Bigi wrote in 1920 an “ABC of Islam” (Islam alifbasi), which he presented to the Congress of Scholars in Ufa. Of the work’s 236 points, 68 concerned the situation of the Muslims in Russia, and the remainder were devoted to Muslims elsewhere. The government retaliated with arrest and imprisonment, but after three months Bigi was released owing to a press campaign launched in Turkey and Finland on his behalf. Despite this experience, Bigi chose to stay in Soviet Russia and in 1926 participated in the Muslim Congress at Mecca representing his country. A year later he received permission to perform the pilgrimage. Bigi returned to Russia after this trip as well, because he still believed that he could serve his people by fighting to keep their heritage alive.
By 1930, however, even the idealist Bigi understood that all doors had been closed and neither political nor cultural pluralism was acceptable to the leaders of Soviet Russia. Consequently, he left his wife and six children behind and fled Russia. He stopped in Chinese Turkestan and then went to Afghanistan and India; in 1931 he traveled to Egypt and Finland; and in 1932 he took part in the first Congress of Turkish History in Ankara. The years of 1933 to 1937 took Bigi to Finland, Germany, and the Middle East, while in 1938 he traveled to China and Japan. In 1939, he went to India and Afghanistan with the intention of settling in the latter, but after being imprisoned by the British for eighteen months, he went to India instead. Bigi remained there until 1947, when he went to Egypt. He died there on October 25, 1949, having spent his last days in poverty in a charitable hospice.
Musa Yarullah Bigi left 122 works. The majority were written in Arabic and were devoted to issues of Islamic theology and jurisprudence; others addressed the social, political, and religious life of the Muslims of Russia and were written in Tatar. Several of his scholarly endeavors should be noted as illustrations of Bigi’s qualities as mujtahid. In Sherhu’l-luzumiyat, a volume of commentaries on the work of the tenth-century Islamic poet and philosopher al-Ma’ari, he argued, sharing al-Ma’ari’s skepticism, that none of the existing religions could be pleasing to God because they all contained moral if not physical oppression.
Bigi pursued the same iconoclastic line of thought in Rahmat-i ilahiya burhannari (The Storms of God’s Clemency), which challenged the official dogma that God’s mercy and forgiveness were not extended to unbelievers, arguing that on the contrary, God extended his forgiveness to everyone. Bigi was attacked by conservative ‘ulama’ through their publication Din va magishat (Religion and Life), as well as by liberal mullahs and jaded (modernist) intellectuals. One of the most vocal criticisms coming from the jaded reformers was articulated by Ismail Gasprali (Gasprinskii) in his article “Woe from Philosophy.” Fakhreddin was among the few defenders of Bigi, but he stated the issue from a different perspective, pointing to the historical precedents for the same interpretation.
When he discovered editorial changes in one of the copies of the Qur’an, Bigi was relentless in his criticism of mullahs, arguing that the changes reflected the ignorance of those who had tampered with the original text, whom he attacked in Tarikhu’l Qur’an va’l-masahif (A History of the Qur’an and Qur’anic Texts). Bigi also advocated translation of the Qur’an into Tatar, which he felt would contribute to making individual religious experience a more meaningful and conscientious act. He stressed that in a civilized world, it was the duty of the community to translate the Qur’an into the languages of the people and to ascertain the accuracy of existing translations. Bigi himself worked on a Tatar translation of the Qur’an, but it may have been destroyed together with his personal archives after his departure from Russia.
Bigi wrote extensively on issues concerning the position of women in Islam (Khatun, Aila masalalare, Hukuku’n-nisa fi’l-Islam); Sunnah and sharia‘ah (Kitabu’s-sunna); Shariat esaslari; and the social and political life of Russian Muslims (Islahat esaslari; Khalq nazarinda bir nicha masale). His most important contributions to Islamic thought, however, are his ijtihad works, of which two more deserve attention: Uzun kunlarde ruza (Fasting during Long Days), and Buyuk mevzularda ufak fikirlar (Small Thoughts on Big Issues). In the first essay, he discusses the ritual obligation of fasting with regard to Muslims living in the far north where the length of daylight and darkness does not coincide with that of the Islamic heartlands and renders a sharp criticism to dogmatics. In the second, he criticizes those who opposed Sufism and Sufi brotherhoods. Bigi valued the philosophical message of mysticism and was interested in the Sufi orders, and even in Christian monasticism.
Despite the breadth and originality of his thoughts and writings, Bigi did not have a strong impact on either Islamic thought in Russia or elsewhere, probably in large part because the door to Islamic studies was closed in Russia after 1917, and his works remained unknown. After leaving his country, he was socially and intellectually an outsider; although he was respected for his knowledge, his wanderings prevented him from planting the seeds of his ijtihad thought firmly in the soil of any Muslim country.
Musa Yarullah Bigi see Bigi
Bihbahani
Bihbahani ('Abd Allah Bihbahani) (1840-1910). Iranian religious scholar and one of the main leaders of the Constitutional Revolution. In 1891, alone among prominent clerics of Tehran, he opposed the celebrated tobacco boycott, thereby gratifying the prime minister of the day and the British legation. In the following decade, he gradually assumed a more patriotic stance, however, denouncing the extravagance of the court and its subordination to Russia. In November 1905, he concluded an alliance with Sayyid Muhammad Tabataba’i, a respected and enlightened religious leader, to seek fundamental changes in the government. This alliance is commonly regarded as the origin of the Constitutional Revolution. Bihbahani played a leading role in all the events of the movement, himself entering the Majlis that resulted from it. He was assassinated on July 16, 1910 by four men linked to a secularist group in the Majlis (parliament).
'Abd Allah Bihbahani see Bihbahani
Bihbahani ('Abd Allah Bihbahani) (1840-1910). Iranian religious scholar and one of the main leaders of the Constitutional Revolution. In 1891, alone among prominent clerics of Tehran, he opposed the celebrated tobacco boycott, thereby gratifying the prime minister of the day and the British legation. In the following decade, he gradually assumed a more patriotic stance, however, denouncing the extravagance of the court and its subordination to Russia. In November 1905, he concluded an alliance with Sayyid Muhammad Tabataba’i, a respected and enlightened religious leader, to seek fundamental changes in the government. This alliance is commonly regarded as the origin of the Constitutional Revolution. Bihbahani played a leading role in all the events of the movement, himself entering the Majlis that resulted from it. He was assassinated on July 16, 1910 by four men linked to a secularist group in the Majlis (parliament).
'Abd Allah Bihbahani see Bihbahani
Bihbihani
Bihbihani (Aqa Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Bihbihani) (Muhammad Baqir Bihbahani) (c.1705- c.1792). Shi‘ite mujtahid of Persia and proponent of the Usuliyya. He was commonly regarded by his contemporaries as the “renewer” (in Arabic, mujaddid) of the eighteenth century. By the end of his life, he had been able almost completely to uproot the influence of the Akhbariyya from the Shi‘ite shrines in Iraq and to establish the Usuliyya as normative for all of the Twelver Shi‘is. He was in effect the ancestor of all those mujtahids who have sought since his time to assert a guiding role in Iranian society.
Born in Isfahan, Bihbihani was taken as a child by his father -- a pupil of Muhammad Baqir Majlisi -- to Karbala in Iraq, which was to be his home for the rest of his life. After completing his studies in Karbala, Bihbahani first intended to return to Iran, but he decided to stay behind to combat the rival Akhbari school of jurisprudence. A vigorous debater and prolific writer, he attained the goal he had set himself and uprooted the Akhbaris from Karbala and other centers of Shi‘ite learning. The numerous pupils he trained returned to Iran in the early nineteenth century to inaugurate a tradition of assertive religious leadership that has continued down to the present day. {See also Akhbariyya; Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir; mujtahid; Shi'a; Twelvers; and Usuliyya.}
Aqa Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Bihbihani see Bihbihani
Muhammad Baqir Bihbahani see Bihbihani
“renewer” see Bihbihani
Bihbihani (Aqa Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Bihbihani) (Muhammad Baqir Bihbahani) (c.1705- c.1792). Shi‘ite mujtahid of Persia and proponent of the Usuliyya. He was commonly regarded by his contemporaries as the “renewer” (in Arabic, mujaddid) of the eighteenth century. By the end of his life, he had been able almost completely to uproot the influence of the Akhbariyya from the Shi‘ite shrines in Iraq and to establish the Usuliyya as normative for all of the Twelver Shi‘is. He was in effect the ancestor of all those mujtahids who have sought since his time to assert a guiding role in Iranian society.
Born in Isfahan, Bihbihani was taken as a child by his father -- a pupil of Muhammad Baqir Majlisi -- to Karbala in Iraq, which was to be his home for the rest of his life. After completing his studies in Karbala, Bihbahani first intended to return to Iran, but he decided to stay behind to combat the rival Akhbari school of jurisprudence. A vigorous debater and prolific writer, he attained the goal he had set himself and uprooted the Akhbaris from Karbala and other centers of Shi‘ite learning. The numerous pupils he trained returned to Iran in the early nineteenth century to inaugurate a tradition of assertive religious leadership that has continued down to the present day. {See also Akhbariyya; Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir; mujtahid; Shi'a; Twelvers; and Usuliyya.}
Aqa Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Bihbihani see Bihbihani
Muhammad Baqir Bihbahani see Bihbihani
“renewer” see Bihbihani
Bihzad
Bihzad (Kamal al-Din Bihzad) (Ostad Kamal od-din Bihzad) (c.1450-1536). Persian illustrator (miniature and manuscript painter). His patrons were the poet Mir ‘Ali Shir Nawa’i, the Timurid ruler in Khurasan, Husayn Bayqara (who reigned from 1470 to 1506) and the Safavid Shahs Isma‘il I and Tahmasp I. Born in Herat (in present day northwest Afghanistan), his artistic activity began around 1480 at the Timurid court of Sultan Husain Baiqara, where his first patron was Ali Shir Neva’i. Bihzad’s name is synonymous with the Timurid style of painting (sometimes called the Herat school), which reached its high point under his direction in the second half of the fifteenth century. Bihzad’s work represented the consummation of a new style of painting, characterized by refinement of composition, lifelike representation, a heightened sense of pictorial drama, and perfection of color technique. After the conquest of Herat by the Safavids in 1510, Bihzad entered the service of the Safavid Shah Isma‘il in Tabriz, where he was appointed head of the royal library and artists’ ateliers in 1522. Not only did he exert a great influence on the development of the Safavid style of painting, but, through his numerous pupils, the Timurid style was carried to Bukhara, where Timurid artistic traditions were preserved until the late sixteenth century under the patronage of the Shaibanid Uzbeks, as well as to the Mughal courts of India.
Bihzad was born in Herat (now in Afghanistan) and was taught by his guardian, the painter Mirak Naqqash (fl. 1494–1507). Bihzad worked in the royal library of the Timurid rulers, where an academy of scholars, calligraphers, and artists codified, copied, and illustrated classical works. In 1510, under the patronage of the new Safavid dynasty, Bihzad accompanied the court to Tabriz, Persia (now Iran). There, as director of the royal library after 1522, he influenced Persian painting and, through his works and his students, that of India and Turkey as well.
Of the many works completed in the style of Bihzad, scholars ascribe 32 to him. All were produced at Herat between 1486 and 1495. In these illustrations, richly clad courtiers move amid palaces, flowering gardens, and mountain landscapes. Bihzad developed new, subtle color relationships and a highly refined compositional skill. His genius won him the epithet "marvel of his age."
Kamal al-Din Bihzad see Bihzad
Ostad Kamal od-din Bihzad see Bihzad
Bihzad (Kamal al-Din Bihzad) (Ostad Kamal od-din Bihzad) (c.1450-1536). Persian illustrator (miniature and manuscript painter). His patrons were the poet Mir ‘Ali Shir Nawa’i, the Timurid ruler in Khurasan, Husayn Bayqara (who reigned from 1470 to 1506) and the Safavid Shahs Isma‘il I and Tahmasp I. Born in Herat (in present day northwest Afghanistan), his artistic activity began around 1480 at the Timurid court of Sultan Husain Baiqara, where his first patron was Ali Shir Neva’i. Bihzad’s name is synonymous with the Timurid style of painting (sometimes called the Herat school), which reached its high point under his direction in the second half of the fifteenth century. Bihzad’s work represented the consummation of a new style of painting, characterized by refinement of composition, lifelike representation, a heightened sense of pictorial drama, and perfection of color technique. After the conquest of Herat by the Safavids in 1510, Bihzad entered the service of the Safavid Shah Isma‘il in Tabriz, where he was appointed head of the royal library and artists’ ateliers in 1522. Not only did he exert a great influence on the development of the Safavid style of painting, but, through his numerous pupils, the Timurid style was carried to Bukhara, where Timurid artistic traditions were preserved until the late sixteenth century under the patronage of the Shaibanid Uzbeks, as well as to the Mughal courts of India.
Bihzad was born in Herat (now in Afghanistan) and was taught by his guardian, the painter Mirak Naqqash (fl. 1494–1507). Bihzad worked in the royal library of the Timurid rulers, where an academy of scholars, calligraphers, and artists codified, copied, and illustrated classical works. In 1510, under the patronage of the new Safavid dynasty, Bihzad accompanied the court to Tabriz, Persia (now Iran). There, as director of the royal library after 1522, he influenced Persian painting and, through his works and his students, that of India and Turkey as well.
Of the many works completed in the style of Bihzad, scholars ascribe 32 to him. All were produced at Herat between 1486 and 1495. In these illustrations, richly clad courtiers move amid palaces, flowering gardens, and mountain landscapes. Bihzad developed new, subtle color relationships and a highly refined compositional skill. His genius won him the epithet "marvel of his age."
Kamal al-Din Bihzad see Bihzad
Ostad Kamal od-din Bihzad see Bihzad
Bilal
Bilal (Bilal ibn Rabah) (Ibn Hamama) (Bilal ibn Habashi) (Bilal ibn Rabah) (Bilal ibn Riyah) (d.c.641). Manumitted slave of Abyssinian (Ethiopian) origin whose early interest in Islam and stentorian voice won him his freedom and the honor of being the first person to hold the position of muezzin, calling the Muslims to prayer. After being purchased and freed by Abu Bakr, he lived in Abu Bakr’s house, made the Hijra with Muhammad, and accompanied Muhammad on his campaigns. He was one of only five non-Arabs to receive stipends from the pay register drawn up by the caliph ‘Umar I.
Bilal died at the age of sixty around 641 at Damascus after having participated in the Wars of the Conquest. Today, Bilal is particularly honored as being the first Muslim of African descent -- the first Black Muslim.
Bilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habeshi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.
The Prophet Muhammad chose Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first official muezzin of the Islamic faith. He was among the slaves freed by Abu Bakr and was known for his beautiful voice with which he called people to their prayers. His name can also be spelled as, "Bilal ibn Riyah" or "ibn Rabah" and he is sometimes known as "Bilal al-Habashi" or "Bilal the Ethiopian". He died sometime between 638 to 642, dying when he was just over sixty years old.
Bilal ibn Rabah is said to have been one of the most trusted and loyal Sahaba (companions of Muhammad) and was one of Ali's earliest and most loyal followers. His respected stature during the birth of Islam is often cited by Muslims as evidence of the importance of pluralism and racial equality in the foundation of the religion.
In 622, the year of the Hijra, Bilal migrated to Medina and over the next decade accompanied Muhammad on all his military expeditions. According to Islamic tradition, Bilal served as Muhammad's mace-bearer and steward, and as a muezzin revered by Muslims for his majestically sonorous renditions of the adhan. Bilal also carried Muhammad's spear, which was used from 624 onward to point the direction of prayer.
He fought in the Battle of Badr, in the aftermath of which he killed his former master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, in spite of the protestation of Umayyah's capturer and long-time friend Abdur Rahman bin Awf. Bilal was also present in all of the major events and battles, including the battles of Uhud and Battle of the Trench.
Bilal's finest hour came in January 630, on an occasion regarded as one of the most hallowed moments in Islamic history. After the Muslim forces had captured Mecca, Muhammad's muezzin ascended to the top of the Kaaba to call the believers to prayer, - the first time the call to prayer was heard within Islam's holiest city..
There are contradictory reports about what happened to Bilal after the death of Muhammad in 632. What seems clear is that at some point Bilal accompanied the Muslim armies to Syria.
Bilal died there between 638 and 642, though the exact date of death and place of burial are disputed.
If there is some disagreement concerning the hard facts of Bilal's life and death, his importance on a number of levels is incontestable. Muezzin guilds, especially those in Turkey and Africa, have traditionally venerated the original practitioner of their noble profession, and African Muslims as a whole feel a special closeness and kinship to him. After all, he was an Ethiopian who had been exceptionally close to Muhammad, and is a model of steadfastness and devotion to the faith. The story of Bilal, in fact, remains the classic and most frequently cited demonstration that in Muhammad's eyes, the measure of a man was neither nationality nor social status nor race, but piety.
Bilal ibn Rabah see Bilal
Ibn Hamama see Bilal
Bilal al-Habeshi
B see Bilal
Bilal the Ethiopian see Bilal
Bilal (Bilal ibn Rabah) (Ibn Hamama) (Bilal ibn Habashi) (Bilal ibn Rabah) (Bilal ibn Riyah) (d.c.641). Manumitted slave of Abyssinian (Ethiopian) origin whose early interest in Islam and stentorian voice won him his freedom and the honor of being the first person to hold the position of muezzin, calling the Muslims to prayer. After being purchased and freed by Abu Bakr, he lived in Abu Bakr’s house, made the Hijra with Muhammad, and accompanied Muhammad on his campaigns. He was one of only five non-Arabs to receive stipends from the pay register drawn up by the caliph ‘Umar I.
Bilal died at the age of sixty around 641 at Damascus after having participated in the Wars of the Conquest. Today, Bilal is particularly honored as being the first Muslim of African descent -- the first Black Muslim.
Bilal ibn Rabah or Bilal al-Habeshi was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.
The Prophet Muhammad chose Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first official muezzin of the Islamic faith. He was among the slaves freed by Abu Bakr and was known for his beautiful voice with which he called people to their prayers. His name can also be spelled as, "Bilal ibn Riyah" or "ibn Rabah" and he is sometimes known as "Bilal al-Habashi" or "Bilal the Ethiopian". He died sometime between 638 to 642, dying when he was just over sixty years old.
Bilal ibn Rabah is said to have been one of the most trusted and loyal Sahaba (companions of Muhammad) and was one of Ali's earliest and most loyal followers. His respected stature during the birth of Islam is often cited by Muslims as evidence of the importance of pluralism and racial equality in the foundation of the religion.
In 622, the year of the Hijra, Bilal migrated to Medina and over the next decade accompanied Muhammad on all his military expeditions. According to Islamic tradition, Bilal served as Muhammad's mace-bearer and steward, and as a muezzin revered by Muslims for his majestically sonorous renditions of the adhan. Bilal also carried Muhammad's spear, which was used from 624 onward to point the direction of prayer.
He fought in the Battle of Badr, in the aftermath of which he killed his former master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, in spite of the protestation of Umayyah's capturer and long-time friend Abdur Rahman bin Awf. Bilal was also present in all of the major events and battles, including the battles of Uhud and Battle of the Trench.
Bilal's finest hour came in January 630, on an occasion regarded as one of the most hallowed moments in Islamic history. After the Muslim forces had captured Mecca, Muhammad's muezzin ascended to the top of the Kaaba to call the believers to prayer, - the first time the call to prayer was heard within Islam's holiest city..
There are contradictory reports about what happened to Bilal after the death of Muhammad in 632. What seems clear is that at some point Bilal accompanied the Muslim armies to Syria.
Bilal died there between 638 and 642, though the exact date of death and place of burial are disputed.
If there is some disagreement concerning the hard facts of Bilal's life and death, his importance on a number of levels is incontestable. Muezzin guilds, especially those in Turkey and Africa, have traditionally venerated the original practitioner of their noble profession, and African Muslims as a whole feel a special closeness and kinship to him. After all, he was an Ethiopian who had been exceptionally close to Muhammad, and is a model of steadfastness and devotion to the faith. The story of Bilal, in fact, remains the classic and most frequently cited demonstration that in Muhammad's eyes, the measure of a man was neither nationality nor social status nor race, but piety.
Bilal ibn Rabah see Bilal
Ibn Hamama see Bilal
Bilal al-Habeshi
B see Bilal
Bilal the Ethiopian see Bilal
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