Story name: “Ahad... Ahad...”

The night was deep, the sky of Mecca was filled with darkness. Silence was all around, as if nature itself was trembling with the arrival of some unknown truth. In the last hours of that night, a young black man was lying on a mud bed in a small hut, his eyes closed in silence. His name was Bilal—a slave brought from Abyssinia, who had no land, no inheritance, and not even his own life.

His master was Umayya ibn Khalaf—one of the wealthy men of Mecca. Bilal was like a shadow at his feet, yet he carried a fire in his heart that never went out.

When the sun of prophethood touched the mountains of Mecca and rose, when Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) declared—Allah is One, He has no partner—that fire also burned within Bilal. He heard the Prophet’s words, saw his character, felt his kindness. Bilal understood—this man does not lie. He came to free the world from slavery, to break the chains of slavery that were placed in the hearts of people.

Bilal did not delay any longer. One night, he secretly went to the Prophet and believed. “Ashhadu al-la ilaha illallahu, ashhadu anna Muhammadar rasulullah.” By uttering these two words, he tore apart an invisible slavery, but the most terrible tests of worldly chains awaited him in the days ahead.

When Umayya learned that his slave had converted to Islam, it was as if gasoline was poured on the fire. Inhuman torture began. Bilal was made to lie down on hot stones in the heat of the day on the rocky plains of Mecca. A large stone was lifted over his chest, as if his chest would scream as he tried to breathe. People stood around him laughing and said, “Leave him alone, return to Lat-Uzza!”

But Bilal's voice was filled with a single word, which would melt into the air, reach the sky of Mecca and return, tearing the heart:

"Ahad... Ahad..."

(One... Only Allah...)

This one word became his resistance, his promise, his identity.

The infidel leaders of Mecca watched in shock. They had seen so many slaves who cried out of fear of the whip, who covered their mouths and endured abuse in the hope of receiving a little mercy from their Lord. But this Bilal?—How could he be so patient? What power was in his voice, which, even under torture, could not make him say "Lat" or "Uzza" even once?

But they did not know—behind this voice was the depth of faith, a faith that once entered the heart, no one could humble that heart.

One day, Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) saw this barbarity. He went to Umayya and said, “Sell this man to me.” Umayya mockingly said, “What will you do with him? He is a disobedient slave.” Abu Bakr said, “His disobedience is to you, but his obedience is to the Lord who created the heavens and the earth.”

Bilal’s freedom was bought. But in the true sense, he was freed the day he said: “Ahad…” That one word freed him from slavery. Because, whoever loves Allah alone, he cannot be a slave to anyone else.

The next chapter in Bilal’s life was the convergence of light. He was now the Muezzin of the Prophet in the Mosque of Medina. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say, “This is the sound of Paradise” when he heard the call to prayer in his voice. His companions would cry at his recitation. “As-Salatu Khairum Minan Naum” (Prayer is better than sleep)—this phrase was first uttered by Bilal’s voice during the call to prayer at dawn, which still resonates in the sky every day in every Muslim country in the world.

Migration, war, difficult times—Bilal was by the side of the Messenger of Allah in everything. Badr, Uhud, the Trench—he participated in all the battles, not with a sword in his hand, but with the light of faith in his heart.

But the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) left such a deep wound in his life that no worldly happiness could fill it. He could no longer stay in Medina. Every street, every wind reminded him of the Prophet. He went to Sham. But one day, at the request of his companions, he returned to Medina. Everyone requested—Call for prayer once.

Bilal stood silently. He climbed the minaret of the Prophet's Mosque and said, "Allahu Akbar... Allahu Akbar..." Then the whole of Medina shook. People ran out of their houses. They were crying. But when Bilal said, "Ashhadu anna Muhammadar Rasulullah..." then he himself could not do it anymore. His voice was choked with tears. Because that Muhammad (PBUH), for whom he had left everything, was no more.

In his last life, when Bilal was on his deathbed, his wife was sitting next to him and crying. He was saying, "Oh, what a sad day it is." But Bilal closed his eyes and said, "No, rather today is a day of joy. Today I will meet my beloved Habib." Saying this, his voice died down, just like a candle does not go out, but ends with its light.

Hazrat Bilal (RA) - a slave who changed the whole of history with one word. That word: "Ahad..."

This word still floats in the air today. When someone stands up against injustice, when someone cries alone in the path of Allah, the same sound rises from the depths of their heart—"Ahad... Ahad..."