It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Bilal! What is that deed which you do, from which you have great hope for benefit, that is, reward, in Islam? Because I heard the sound of your footsteps ahead of me in Paradise last night. Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: I have not done any such deed in Islam for which I would have received this reward, except that it is my habit that whenever I perform ablution during the day or night, then as much as Allah Almighty gives me the ability, I offer prayer after it.

Sayyiduna Buraidah Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) similar in meaning to the previous hadith, except that it contains this clarification: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him): "By virtue of which deed did you reach Paradise before me?" He replied: "I do not perform any special deed, except that whenever I become impure (lose ablution), I perform ablution and then offer two units of prayer." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is because of this deed."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that on the night when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was taken on the Night Journey (Isra), he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Paradise and heard a faint sound from one side of it. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: O Jibreel! What is this sound? He replied: This is Bilal, the muezzin. Then when he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the people, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Indeed, Bilal has succeeded; I have seen this for him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that once Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) was late for the Fajr prayer. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: Where were you delayed? He replied: I passed by Sayyida Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her); she was operating the millstone and the child was crying. I said to her: If you wish, I will operate the millstone and you can tend to the child, or I will tend to the child and you can operate the millstone. She said: I am more compassionate and kind to the child than you. So this task made me late for the prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You showed compassion to Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her), may Allah have mercy on you.

It is narrated from Salim bin Abdullah bin Umar that a poet recited a qasida before Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) on the death of his son Bilal, saying: "Abdullah's Bilal was the best Bilal." Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You are wrong; he was the Bilal of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that his father, Abdullah bin Amr bin Haram (may Allah be pleased with him), was martyred and he had a considerable amount of debt. I requested the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to assist in the repayment by asking the creditors to forgive a portion of the debt, but they refused to grant this concession. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: Go and separate the different types of dates, keep the Ajwah dates separate, keep the ‘Adhq Zayd separate, and then inform me. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I did everything according to your instructions, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and sat on the highest or the middle pile of dates and said to me: Measure out and pay the people their due. I did so, measuring out and paying off their debts, and my dates remained as they were, as if nothing had been diminished from them.

Abu al-Mutawakkil says: I went to serve Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) and requested, "Please tell me an incident of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that you yourself witnessed." He narrated: My father passed away and he owed a debt of twenty wasq of dates (one wasq is approximately 130 kilograms). We had only so many dates of Ajwah and other varieties that they could not cover our debt. I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned the situation. He sent a message to my creditor asking him to give some concession, but he refused and insisted that he would only accept Ajwah dates. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: Go and pay him in Ajwah dates. My wife and I went to our orchard, we picked the dates, and we had a goat which we used to feed with inferior dates. By eating those dates, it had become very fat and healthy. Suddenly, I saw two men coming—one was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the other was Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). I said: O Messenger of Allah! Welcome, Umar! Welcome. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: Jabir! Come, let us walk around your dates. I said: Yes, certainly. So we walked around the orchard and I ordered the goat to be slaughtered, and it was slaughtered. Then we brought a pillow made of hair, filled with date palm fiber, but we could not find a pillow to give to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Then we presented fresh and dry dates and meat before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a dining cloth. Both of them ate, and I was a man who felt shy. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was about to leave, my wife said: O Messenger of Allah! We need your prayers. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Very well, may Allah bless your sustenance, may Allah bless your sustenance. After that, I sent a message to my creditors, and they came with donkeys and sacks. I had firmly resolved to buy Ajwah, that is, the best kind of dates, and pay my father's debt with Ajwah dates. By Allah, in Whose hand is my life! I paid the full twenty wasq of Ajwah dates and still had plenty of dates left. I went and gave the good news to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about how Allah had blessed my wealth. When I told him this, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Allah, to You is all praise. He also informed Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that Jabir had fully paid his creditors, and he too began to praise Allah.

(Second Chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that my father was in debt, so I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for help regarding its payment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I will come to you. I went and told my wife not to say anything to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about this matter, nor to ask for anything. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to our house. Upon his arrival, we slaughtered a goat. When he saw the meat, he said: Jabir! It seems you know that we like meat. After finishing the meal, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was about to leave, my wife requested him: O Messenger of Allah! Please pray for mercy for me and my husband. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Allah! Send Your mercy upon them. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said to my wife, did I not forbid you? She replied: You know that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had come to us before and had not prayed for us, (so I requested the prayer this time).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I was with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey. On the return, when we reached near Madinah Munawwarah, I submitted: O Messenger of Allah! I have recently gotten married, if you permit, may I go home a little early, that is, before the others? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Have you gotten married? I replied: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Is she a virgin or a widow? I replied: She is a widow. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Why did you not marry a virgin? You could have played with her and she with you. In another narration, the words are: You would play with her and she would play with you, and she would make you laugh and you would make her laugh. I submitted: (My father) Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away leaving behind (seven) young sisters under my care, and I did not consider it appropriate to bring a woman of their age (as a wife) over them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not enter your house at night, that is, without prior notice. I was riding a camel, and it fell ill, so I was moving slowly at the very back, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) caught up with me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Jabir! What is the matter? I replied that my camel has fallen ill. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) held its tail and prodded it a little, and suddenly I found myself at the very front. I was pulling its reins, trying to hold its head back so that its speed would decrease a little. When we reached near Madinah Munawwarah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: Where is your camel? I replied: Here it is. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sell it to me. In another narration, the words are: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: May Allah forgive you, will you sell it to me? I replied: I will not sell it to you, rather it is (without compensation) yours. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I will not take it without compensation, sell it to me. In one narration, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) increased the price and said: Will you sell it to me for this much? May Allah forgive you. I replied: It is yours. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No, I will buy it for one uqiyah of gold. When you reach Madinah Munawwarah, hand it over to us. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When I reached Madinah Munawwarah, I brought the camel to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Bilal! Weigh out one uqiyah of gold and an extra qirat and give it to him. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The extra qirat of gold was a gift from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and it remained with me until my death. He says that I used to keep it in my pocket or pouch, and it remained with me until the day of the Battle of Harrah, when the people of Sham came and took it among the looted goods from our place.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that one night my camel was lost. While searching for it, I passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He was preparing a camel for Umm al-Mu'mineen Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw me, he said: "Jabir! What is the matter?" I replied: "It is a dark night and my camel is lost." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Your camel is over there, go and catch it." I went in the direction he indicated, but I did not find the camel. I returned to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah! May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, I did not find the camel." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Your camel is there, go and catch it." I went in the direction he indicated, but again I did not find the camel. I returned and said: "O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I did not find the camel." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Alright, wait." After finishing his work, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took my hand and walked with me until we reached the camel. He handed it over to me and said: "Here is your camel." The people had gone ahead, and I was riding my camel, which was slow. I was saying: "How unfortunate that my camel is so slow." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was coming behind me. He heard what I said. He caught up with me and said: "Jabir! What did you just say?" I had forgotten what I had said. I replied: "O Messenger of Allah! I did not say anything." Then suddenly I remembered and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I said: 'Alas! My camel is so slow.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck the back of the camel with his or my stick. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "As soon as the stick struck, the camel ran so fast that I have never ridden a faster camel to this day. It was pulling its reins from me and was not coming under control." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "Will you sell me this camel?" I replied: "Yes." He said: "For how much?" I replied: "For one uqiyah of gold." He said: "Very good. How many camels can you get for one uqiyah?" I replied: "O Messenger of Allah! In the whole of Madinah, we do not find any camel dearer than this one." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have bought this camel for one uqiyah." As soon as I heard this, I got down from the camel. He said: "What happened?" I replied: "Now this camel is not mine, but yours." He said: "Ride your camel." I said: "Now this camel is not mine, but yours." We repeated this conversation twice, and did not repeat it a third time, and I rode the camel. When I reached Madinah, I went to my paternal aunt and said to her: "Look, I have sold this camel to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for one uqiyah of gold." I saw that she did not like this deal, because the camel was very fast and strong. I shook the leaves of a tree and fed them to the camel, took its reins, and went to hand it over to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was engaged in conversation with someone. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Please take your camel." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the reins of the camel and said to Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him): "Weigh out one uqiyah of gold for Jabir, and give him a little extra." I went with Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), he weighed out one uqiyah of gold for me and gave me some extra as well. After receiving the price, I returned and found the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) still engaged in conversation with that man. I said to him: "Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) has given me one uqiyah of gold and some extra." He was still standing there, and I started walking towards my house. As I was going, he called out: "Where is Jabir?" The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) informed him that I had gone home. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man: "Go and call him to me." His messenger came running to me and said: "Jabir! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has called you." When I reached him, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your camel." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! This camel is not mine, it is now yours." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your camel." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Now this camel is not mine, but yours." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take your camel." So I took the camel. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "We thought that if we went back on this deal with you, it would not be beneficial for us at all." So I went to my paternal aunt, the camel was with me and I also had one uqiyah of gold. I told my aunt: "Look, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has given me one uqiyah of gold and also returned my camel to me."