Bilal was an Abyssinian (i.e. Ethiopian) who was taken as a slave in his teens. He was among the early converts to Islam. When his master Umayyah tried to whip him into renouncing, he only said "No God but God" repeatedly even when a heavy stone was placed on his chest. Abu Bakr sent a representative to buy him from Umayyah who promptly sold him for ten dinars. As he counted the money, Umayyah laughed and told Abu Bakr he would have sold him for three (dinars). Abu Bakr retorted he would have paid 100.

Bilal was one of the earliest converts to Islam in Mecca and one of the slaves who accepted Islam at a time when becoming a Muslim resulted in persecution, or even death. Bilal was an Abyssinian brought to Mecca to be a slave in the house of a Quraishi chief. He was humiliated and oppressed because of his low status and dark skin, yet bore his trials with patience. In his heart, Bilal knew that the idols he was forced to worship would not be able to bring him any good or harm, so when he heard of a new Prophet who called people to worship Allah alone and to treat each other with justice and equality, he became interested in Islam. When his owner, Umayya bin Khalaf, discovered that Bilal had not only accepted Islam, but also spit on an idol in front of the Ka’bah, he tortured Bilal to make him turn away from his newfound faith. Bilal was whipped until his skin would tear and blood streamed out, taken to the desert, wrapped in steel chains and placed underneath a huge rock, and the only words he would say were ‘Allah is One.’ Bilal showed humanity that nothing should be exchanged for the true faith, not even one’s life. One day, Umayya was torturing Bilal particularly heavily, and Abu Bakr came and asked to purchase Bilal. Abu Bakr was persistent and paid a large sum for Bilal, then immediately declared Bilal to be a free man, an example of Islam’s attitude toward slavery. Bilal was treated equally by the Companions, and migrated to Medina for the sake of his faith. In Medina, Bilal announced the call to prayer for the first time in history and became the first Mu’edhin of Islam. With his melodious voice, he would give the call to prayer five times a day for the rest of the Prophet’s (saas) life.