Umayyah ibn Khalaf

Umayyah ibn Khalaf was a prominent Meccan leader of the Banu Jumah clan and one of the most active persecutors of early Muslims. He is most famous for his brutal torture of the Ethiopian slave Bilal ibn Rabah, who had accepted Islam. Umayyah would take Bilal out into the scorching midday sun of Mecca, make him lie on the burning sand, place a heavy rock on his chest, and command him to renounce Islam. Bilal's response was always the same: 'Ahad, Ahad' (One, One — meaning Allah is One). Abu Bakr al-Siddiq heard of this torture, went to Umayyah, and purchased Bilal's freedom with a significant sum — freeing him from both physical bondage and persecution. Umayyah harbored a particular personal hatred for Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, his own half-brother through their shared lineage, who had converted to Islam. Ibn Awf knew Umayyah well enough to try to give him a protective pact during the march to Badr. At Badr, however, Umayyah was identified and killed by Bilal, who called out 'The Head of Unbelief! Umayyah ibn Khalaf!' Ibn Awf tried to protect him but was unable to hold the companions back once Bilal had pointed him out. The killer of the one who had tortured Bilal was Bilal himself — a profound reversal of fortune. This event is one of the most poetically just in the early history of Islam. Umayyah's death at Badr is recorded in detail in Sahih al-Bukhari.