Born in a noble family of the Quraish, Khalid bin Waleed (rta) proved himself as a lively, courageous and bright child. As the son of the Banu Makhzoom chief Waleed bin Mughaira, Khalid (rta) was brought up to be a warrior, always ready to defend his people. In his youth, Khalid (rta) stood out from among his peers with his unique gift of foresight and planning. Having mastered to perfection horseback riding, sword fighting and other military arts, he became known in the whole Arabia as one of the best military leaders of the time. As the commander of the Muslim army, Khalid (rta) led Mujahideen so brilliantly and showed so excellent strategic planning and courage that the Prophet (saw) gave him the title of Saifullah (the sword of Allah).
Before accepting Islam, Khalid (rta) actively took part in battles against Muslims. He saw the Prophet’s (saw) call to Islam and worship of one Allah (swt) as a threat to the heritage and religion of his forefathers.
After migrating to Madinah, Muslims had to fight numerous battles for defending their faith. Khalid (rta) was in the rows of the Quraish chiefs, when. They came to attack Muslims in the battle of Sadr and the battle of Uhud. In the battle of Uhud, he led the same Quraish horsemen, which, thanks to Khalid’s (rta) exceptional skills of managing the battlefield, gave the crucial blow to the Muslim army from the back side, thus, winning the battle for the Quraish. After this battle, Khalid (rta) was selected to be the commander general of the Quraish army.
When the Quraish arrived to the borders of Madinah the third time, they were faced with an unexpected problem – a deep and wide trench surrounded the city preventing them from entering it. Khalid (rta) felt helpless against such a wise self-defense of Mujahideen. His army spent one month on the borders of the city. Finally, Khalid (rta) was forced to withdraw his army and head back for Makkah with much humiliation. He had not included in his plans the help that Muslims were receiving from Allah (swt).
Soon after this victory, the Prophet (saw) and his companions were getting ready for Umrah. They set out for Madinah barely armed, hoping that this will prove to the Quraish their peaceful intentions. When Khalid (rta) heard about their approaching, he with some of his men went out to a place called Hudaibiyah intending to provoke Muslims for fighting. No matter how hard he tried, Muslims remained peaceful. Finally, the Prophet (saw) ended up signing a ten years long peace treaty with the Quraish – the treaty of Hudaibiyah.
Meanwhile, Allah (swt) had begun working on softening Khalid’s (rta) heart towards Islam. Seeing how well Muslims treat each other and how dedicated they are to promoting Islam, Khalid (rta) felt attracted towards the religion they were spreading. At Hudaibiyah, he had planned to attack Muslims during Zuhr prayer. However, Khalid (rta) felt that some strange force held him back. During Asr prayer, he made his second attempt, but again unsuccessfully. Khalid (rta) then realized that some unseen power was protecting the Prophet (saw) and his companions.
However, still some time had to pass, before Khalid (rta) fully opened his heart to Islam. The following year, when the Prophet (saw) and his companions came to Makkah for Umrah, Khalid (rta) left the city and came back only when Muslims had left. Upon his return, he found a letter from his brother Al-Waleed (rta) waiting for him. Al-Waleed (rta) had embraced Islam and was encouraging Khalid (rta) to do the same. Finally, Khalid (rta) decided to go to meet the Prophet (saw). Upon his arrival to Madinah, he took the pledge of allegiance to Islam by swearing on the palm of the Prophet (saw).
The first battle Khalid (rta) participated in as a Muslim took place in Mutah in Jordan, where Mujahideen fought against the Roman army. Khalid (rta) went to Mutah as an ordinary soldier; however, due to very severe battlefield conditions, in which three Muslim generals lost their lives one after another, Khalid (rta) was selected to be the fourth commander to lead Muslims in this battle. He accepted this honorable position and fought so fiercely that already on the first day of fighting nine swords broke in his hands. Thanks to his excellent military skills and experience, Khalid (rta) managed to avoid total defeat of Mujahideen and found a way to bring the army back to Madinah with minimum losses. It was after this battle that the Prophet (saw) gave to Khalid (rta) the name of Saifullah.
After the conquest of Makkah, Khalid (rta) kept very close to the Prophet (saw) and fought many battles against the enemies of Islam. Khalid (rta) was also among those one hundred thousand Muslims, who shared with the Prophet (saw) the farewell pilgrimage.
After the Prophet’s (saw) death, many Arab tribes rebelled against the Islamic State. Seeing this, Khalid (rta) was full of anger and led eleven brigades for subduing the rebels. His most fierce fight was against Musaylimah Kadhdbab (the liar) – a false prophet, who began inventing false Quran. Khalid’s (rta) battle against Musaylimah was especially important, because this false prophet had already defeated Muslims in two battles before. However, under the wise command of Khalid (rta), Mujahideen won the battle.
When the rebels of Arabia were controlled, Khalid (rta) received orders from Abu Bakr (rta) to spread Islam to the neighboring areas. Khalid’s (rta) first direction was towards the Persian Empire. Upon arriving to the Persian Gulf, Khalid (rta) sent a message to a Persian ruler Hurmuz, asking him to accept the religion of Allah (swt) or to pay taxes to the Islamic State. After receiving Hurmuz’s refusal Khalid (rta) once again showed his excellent skills of mastering the battlefield-he killed Hurmuz’s in a duel fight, which disheartened his soldiers and inspired Mujahideen, leading them to a glorious victory.
The next Khalid’s (rta) m1ss1on was to take his army from the Persian Gulf to Yarmuk on the northern border of the Islamic State, where Abu Bakr (rta) requested him to help other Mujahideen in the war against Romans. In Yarmuk, Khalid (rta) studied the situation and asked the other commanders to permit him to lead the whole Muslim army on the first day of the battle. Before the battle, the Roman commander came to Khalid (rta) with an offer of money, clothes and food for the whole his army, requesting that the Mujahideen would leave the battlefield. Khalid (rta) responded to such a humiliating offer with fierce anger, saying that not the poverty brought Mujahideen to this battlefield but their wish to drink the delicious blood of Romans. Fired by the spirit of Jihad, Khalid (rta) led Mujahideen into the battle, making Romans suffer loss of one hundred and twenty thousand men already on the very first day of fighting.
While the battle with Romans was in its heat, Abu Ubaidah bin Al Jarrah (rta) received news from Madinah about Abu Bakr’s (rta) death. Umar bin Al-Khattab (rta), the second Caliph, had given the command of the Muslim army to Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah (rta). Upon hearing this, without any hesitation, Khalid (rta ) gave the command into the hands of Abu Ubaidah (rta) and continued to fight under his command, bringing the message of Islam to all parts of Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
It had always been the most earnest wish of Khalid (rta) to face his death in the battlefield as a true soldier of Islam. However, it was the will of Allah (swt) that he spent his last days in his own bed. Before death, Khalid (rta) requested to give to the Islamic State all his property, which later turned out to be only his horse and his weapons. Khalid bin Waleed (rta) died in Hums in the 21st year AH, where he was also buried.
The article is based on Mahmood Ahmed Ghandafar’s book “Commanders of the Muslim Army (Among the Companions of the Prophet (saw)” and was originally published in “Hiba” magazine.
“Hiba” is a Muslim lifestyle magazine with vision to build strong homes. It is a non-profit venture, with its content revolving around knowledge, solutions and values. Established in 2004, “Hiba” has benefited over 53,000 readers internationally via www.hibamagazine .com.
