Khalid ibn al-Walid

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Khālid bin Walīd (in Arabic:خالد بن الوليد; also known by muslims as: Sayf-Allāh / Sword of God); (584 - 642) was a Muslim Arabian soldier and general, during the Islamic conquests of the 7th Century.

Khālid bin Walīd was born around 584 in Mecca to Walīd ibn Mughīrah, the chief of the Banū Makhzum clan of the Quraish, a clan which specialized in warfare.

As an adult, Khālid was well-known among the Quraish for his fighting abilities. Following Muhammad's establishment of the new faith of Islam, many battles were fought between the Muhammad's followers and the Quraish tribes. Khālid's military genius is thought to be responsible for turning the Battle of Uhūd into a victory for the Quraish forces after what had looked like a sure defeat.Template:Fact

Following the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, Khālid converted to Islam. Upon conversion, he went to the prophet Muhammad personally and apologized for his previous actions, asked Muhammad to pray to God to forgive Khālid, and agreed to fight for Islam from then on. After a period of initial mistrust, Khālid won the trust of Muhammad's followers and became a commander of Muslim armies.Template:Fact

Three months after Khalid's arrival at Medina, Muhhammad had sent an envoy to the Ghassan 2 Chieftain of Busra, with a letter asking the chieftain to convert to Islam. While passing through Mutah this envoy was intercepted and killed by a local Ghassan chieftain by the name of Shurahbil bin Amr. Traditionally, diplomatic envoys held immunity from attack, and the news of this act inflamed Medina.Template:Fact

An expedition was immediately prepared to take punitive action against the Ghassan. Muhammad appointed Zayd bin al-Hareth as the commander of the force. In the event of Zayd's death, the command was to be taken over by Jafar ibn Abi Talib, while if Jafar were killed, the command would devolve upon Abdullah bin Rawahah, and if all three were killed, the men of the expedition were to select a commander from among themselves.Template:Fact

After the three named commanders were slain, Khalid was selected as the commander and he was enable to maintain his army of 3000 soldiers against the Byzantine-Gassanid forces in what would be known as the Battle of Mutah.Template:Fact

When Abū Bakr succeeded Muhammad as Caliph, he sent Khālid ibn al-Walīid against Banū Tamīm, and Ikrīmah ibn Abu Jahl against Musaylimah in Yamāmah.Template:Fact

During the caliphate of Abū Bakr, Khālid was responsible for putting down the rebellion led by Musaylimah at the battle of Akrabah.Template:Fact

1 Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and the massacre of his tribe
2 Successful Conquests
3 Death
4 See also
5 External link

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Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and the massacre of his tribe

Abū Bakr sent Khālid ibn al-Walīd into Najd with 4000 men. Many clans of Banī Tamīm, hastened to visit Khālid but the Banī Yarbu`a branch of the tribe, under its chief, Mālik ibn Nuwayrah, hung back. Mālik was a chief of some distinction, a warrior, noted for his generosity and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity and poetry were the three qualities most admired among the Arabs. He ordered his followers to scatter and himself apparently moved away across the desert alone with his family. Abū Bakr had given orders that the test to be applied to suspected rebels was that they be asked to repeat the Muslim formula and that they answer the call to prayer. Khālid, however, preferred more aggressive methods and sent out parties of horsemen to round up the fugitives and plunder their property. One such party seized Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and his family and brought them in to Khālid, although they claimed to be Muslims. The men of Medina who were with the army protested vigorously against Khālid's ruthlessness, but without avail. The prisoners were placed under guard but, during the night, Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and his supporters were killed. Khālid married the widow of Ibn Nuwayrah the very next day.

(Above paragraph is disputable; the death of Mālik ibn Nuwayrah and the others was because of a wrong interpretation of a militray order.)

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Successful Conquests

Later, Khalid began the conquest of Iraq from the Persian Empire (although he was eventually replaced by Sa`d ibn Abī Waqqās). During the reign of `Umar ibn al-Khattāb, Khālid led the Muslim armies in Syria against the Byzantine Empire. Under his leadership, Damascus was captured by the Muslim armies. Following the Battle of Yarmuk, all of Syria was taken from the Byzantines.

Following this battle, Khālid was extremely popular. This worried the caliph Umar who did not want the people thinking that the victories were due to Khalid rather than their belief in God, so he recalled Khālid and relieved him of his commander status.Template:Fact Despite Khālid's desire to continue leading his armies, he obliged. Rather than stay in Medina though, he returned to the field of battle as a regular soldier. Although it is beleived that relations between Umar and Khālid, cousins, were always something short of cordial, Khālid apparently harboured no ill-will. Upon his death, he bequeathed Umar and made him the executor of his will and estate.<ref>Ahmad, Fazl " Khalid Bin Walid : The Sword of Allah", Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, ed., Lahore, 1976</ref>

From his marriage to a Roman, he had a son named Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid

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Death

Khālid died in 642 in Emesa, Syria. He had wanted to die a martyr in the field of battle, and was apparently disappointed when he knew that he would die in bed.Template:Fact He is buried in Homs, Syria (modern-day Emesa). His tombstone is now part of a mosque called Jami' Khālid bin Walid (literally, Khalid bin Walid mosque). On his tombstone is also the list of campaigns that Khālid commanded. There depicted are 50 victorious battles without defeat, a fact that many Muslims and fans of Khālid point to in laying claim to his being amongst the finest generals in history. For most Sunni Muslims, he is regarded as the finest military man their numbers have produced. Others hold a less favourable view, seeing Khalid as a battle-hardened solider for whom mercy was not always a priority. Regardless, many Muslims fondly remember Khālid as 'the Sword of God', a title given to him by the Prophet Muhammad and are accordingly reverrant.

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