What is the authenticity of the story of Bilal ibn Rabah's refusal to call the Adhan after the death of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his request for Jihad in the path of Allah, then his calling the Adhan in Medina after seeing the Prophet in a dream, and his calling the Adhan for Umar ibn al-Khattab in Al-Sham?
The story mentioned has not been narrated in its entirety in this specific context, nor with these exact words.
1. The story of Bilal's refusal to call the adhan after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and his saying to Abu Bakr, "Did you emancipate me for the sake of Allah or for yourself?" to which Abu Bakr replied, "For Allah." Then Bilal said, "Then permit me to go for jihad." So he permitted him, and Bilal went to Sham and died there. This story has been narrated with broken chains of transmission (asanid munqati'ah). 2. The story of Bilal's dream of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his arrival in Madinah to visit the Prophet's grave, his call to adhan, and the people's weeping. Hadith scholars have deemed this story weak. Ibn Abd al-Hadi described it as: "A strange, repudiated narration (athar gharib munkar) with an unknown chain of transmission (isnad majhul) and a break in its chain." Al-Dhahabi said about it: "Its chain of transmission is weak (isnaduhu layyin), and it is repudiated (munkar)." Al-Albani said about it: "This narration is false and fabricated (batilah mawdu'ah), and the signs of fabrication are evident upon it." 3. The story of Bilal's call to adhan for Umar when he arrived in Sham and the people's weeping was narrated by Al-Bukhari in his "Tarikh al-Awsat" and by Abu Dawud in "Al-Zuhd," with a chain of transmission that includes Hisham bin Sa'd al-Madani, about whom there has been criticism. 4. Bilal's saying when death approached him: "Tomorrow we meet the beloved ones." This was narrated by Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Ibn Asakir, and Ibn al-Jawzi, from Sa'id bin Abd al-Aziz, whose narration from the Companions is disconnected (munqati'ah).
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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