Khalid ibn al-Walid

Khalid ibn al-Walid (may God be pleased with him) was the most dreaded cavalry commander in the Arabian Peninsula: first for Mecca against the Muslims, then for Islam against two empires. Few figures in this museum fought on as many sides of the story as he did.

A son of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira of Banu Makhzum, Khalid led the cavalry of Mecca at Uhud. His cavalry's counter-attack tipped the battle against the Muslims that day in 625 CE ¹. In 629 CE he rode to Medina and embraced Islam. Within months the Prophet ﷺ gave him command, and at Mu'ta he rescued the army after its three commanders had fallen ².

Under the caliphs he led the army at al-Yamama in the wars of apostasy (Ridda), and at al-Yarmuk against the Byzantines ³. The sources record, in the wars of apostasy, the case of Malik ibn Nuwayra, whom his men killed. It is reported that the Prophet himself cleared Khalid of hasty action in that affair ³. Umar removed him from command around 638 CE. He died in 642 CE in Homs or Medina ².

Military histories still study his campaigns, and Muslim memory still debates whether genius excuses anything. He wished to die in battle and died in his bed, and the reports say he regarded that as an injustice.

He recounts that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) removed Khalid from command, and that victory does not depend on one commander (needs_source) ⁷.

He recounts that Khalid swore to kill the people of a fortress if it was taken, and that in a locked room of captives was Nusayr, the father of Musa ibn Nusayr (needs_source: the story as the sheikh tells it) ⁸. He recounts that Khalid cut off the water supply of the Persians, and that Abu Bakr told him to move his forces to Syria (needs_source) ⁹, and that on the desert crossing the camels were watered in turns (needs_source) ¹⁰.

He recounts that at Uhud the archers left the gap which Khalid exploited, and that the Prophet was then wounded (needs_source: the account is garbled in the automatic transcript) ¹¹. He says Khalid entered a hundred battles in jihad and Islam without being defeated in any of them, and that the figures for Mu'ta need checking (needs_source: the figures have not been checked) ¹².

He recounts that after the three commanders fell at Mu'ta, Khalid, who had recently become Muslim, was chosen to lead; he said he was a recent convert, and then took up the banner (needs_source) ¹³. He recounts that Khalid reorganised the army at night, moving the rear to the front to deceive the enemy (needs_source) ¹⁴, and that his withdrawal was planned and preserved the army (needs_source) ¹⁵.

He recounts that Abu Bakr called Khalid the drawn sword of God (needs_source) ⁵. He says Khalid was never defeated in battle after Islam, and was about thirty while the Companions were young, urging that their lives be studied (needs_source) ^{16 6}. He recounts that Khalid's cap, in which he kept a hair of the Prophet, fell during the battle of Yarmuk, and that he left the battle and the command to search for it (needs_source) ¹⁷.

He recounts that Khalid converted at about twenty-one, with Ikrima, and the Prophet welcomed them; the sheikh also says Khalid was in his thirties when he converted, and that the Prophet remarked that Mecca had given him its precious men, among them Khalid and Ikrima (needs_source: the sheikh gives two ages) ^{18 19 20}.