All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
He is Bilal ibn Rabaah the Muaththin (the person who makes the call to prayer) of the Prophet
and he was nicknamed Abu ‘Abdullah.
It was also said that he was nicknamed Abu Abdul-Kareem and it was said Abu Abdur-Rahmaan. Some others said that he was nicknamed Abu ‘Amr.
It was Abu Bakr as-Sideeq who emancipated him.
Bilal took part in the battle of Badr and the battle of Uhud, and all other battles with the Prophet
.
The Prophet established ties of brotherhood between him and ‘Ubaydah ibn Haarith ibn al-Muttalib.
He died in Damascus, and was buried at the small gate in the graveyard of Damascus in the year 20 AH. He was sixty-three years old.
Another view says that he died in the year 21 AH. Yet, another view says that he died when he was seventy years old. [Al-Isti’aab authored by Ibn ‘Abd al-Bar]
Bilal narrated some Ahadeeth from the Prophet
.
Ath-Thahabi said in Siyar a’Laam an-Nubalaa’:
“His Ahadeeth were reported in the books (of Sunnah). Ibn ‘Umar, Abu ‘Uthmaan An-Nahdi, al-Aswad, ‘Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Abu Layla, and a group of narrators of Hadeeth narrated from him.” [End of quote]
Allah knows best.