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Khalid ibn al-Walid
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career serving Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, as a commander of the Muslim army. Khalid played leading command roles in the Ridda Wars against rebel tribes in Arabia in 632–633, the initial campaigns in Sasanian Iraq in 633–634, and the conquest of Byzantine Syria in 634–638.
As a horseman of the Quraysh's aristocratic Banu Makhzum clan, which ardently opposed Muhammad, Khalid played an instrumental role in defeating Muhammad and his followers during the Battle of Uhud in 625. In 627 or 629, he converted to Islam in the presence of Muhammad, who inducted him as an official military commander among the Muslims and gave him the title of Sayf Allah (lit. 'Sword of God'). During the Battle of Mu'ta, Khalid coordinated the safe withdrawal of Muslim troops against the Byzantines. He also led the Bedouins under the Muslim army during the Muslim conquest of Mecca in 629–630 and the Battle of Hunayn in 630. After Muhammad's death, Khalid was appointed to Najd and al-Yamama to suppress or subjugate the Arab tribes opposed to the nascent Muslim state; this campaign culminated in Khalid's victory over rebel leaders Tulayha and Musaylima at the Battle of Buzakha in 632 and the Battle of Yamama in 633, respectively.
Khalid subsequently launched campaigns against the predominantly Christian Arab tribes and the Sasanian Persian garrisons along the Euphrates valley in Iraq. Abu Bakr later reassigned him to command the Muslim armies in Syria, where he led his forces on an unconventional march across a long, waterless stretch of the Syrian Desert, boosting his reputation as a military strategist. As a result of decisive victories led by Khalid against the Byzantines at Ajnadayn (634), Fahl (634 or 635), Damascus (634–635), and the Yarmouk (636), the Muslim army conquered most of the Levant. Khalid was subsequently demoted and removed from the army's high command by Umar. Khalid continued service as the key lieutenant of his successor Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah in the sieges of Homs and Aleppo and the Battle of Qinnasrin, all in 637–638. These engagements collectively precipitated the retreat of imperial Byzantine troops from Syria under Emperor Heraclius. Around 638, Umar dismissed Khalid from both his military command and his position as governor of Jund Qinnasrin. Khalid died in 642, either in Medina or Homs.
Khalid is generally considered by historians to be one of the most seasoned and accomplished generals in Islamic history, and he is likewise commemorated throughout the Arab world. Islamic tradition credits him with decisive battlefield tactics and effective leadership during the early Muslim conquests. However, historical accounts offer differing perspectives on certain events, including his execution of Malik ibn Nuwayra during the Ridda Wars and his dismissal from command by Umar. Khalid's military fame disturbed some pious early Muslims, most notably Umar, who feared it could develop into a personality cult. In Sunni tradition, Khalid is generally honored as a heroic figure, whereas Shia tradition portrays him more critically.
Khalid's father was al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, an arbitrator of local disputes in Mecca in the Hejaz (western Arabia). Al-Walid is identified by the historians Ibn Hisham (d. 833), Ibn Durayd (d. 837) and Ibn Habib (d. 859) as the "derider" of the Islamic prophet Muhammad mentioned in the Meccan suras (chapters) of the Qur'an. He belonged to the Banu Makhzum, a leading clan of the Quraysh tribe and Mecca's pre-Islamic aristocracy. The Makhzum are credited for introducing Meccan commerce to foreign markets, particularly Yemen and Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and developed a reputation among the Quraysh for their intellect, nobility and wealth. Their prominence was owed to the leadership of Khalid's paternal grandfather al-Mughira ibn Abd Allah. Khalid's paternal uncle Hisham was known as the 'lord of Mecca' and the date of his death was used by the Quraysh as the start of their calendar. The historian Muhammad Abdulhayy Shaban describes Khalid as "a man of considerable standing" within his clan and Mecca in general.
Khalid's mother was al-Asma bint al-Harith ibn Hazn, commonly known as Lubaba al-Sughra ('Lubaba the Younger', to distinguish her from her elder half-sister Lubaba al-Kubra) of the nomadic Banu Hilal tribe. Lubaba al-Sughra converted to Islam about c. 622 and her paternal half-sister Maymuna became a wife of Muhammad. She was also half-sister of Asma bint Umais, who successively married to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Abu Bakr, and later Ali ibn Abi Talib. Through his maternal relations, Khalid became highly familiarized with the Bedouin (nomadic Arab) lifestyle. Descriptions of Khalid’s appearance are rare, but some accounts claim he so closely resembled Umar in both looks and voice that people with poor eyesight often confused them.
The Makhzum were strongly opposed to Muhammad, and the clan's preeminent leader Amr ibn Hisham (Abu Jahl), Khalid's first cousin, organized the boycott of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim of Quraysh, in c. 616–618. After Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina in 622, the Makhzum under Abu Jahl commanded the war against him until they were routed at the Battle of Badr in 624. About twenty-five of Khalid's paternal cousins, including Abu Jahl, and numerous other kinsmen were slain in that engagement.
The following year, Khalid commanded the right flank of the cavalry in the Meccan army which confronted Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud north of Medina. According to the historian Donald Routledge Hill, rather than launching a frontal assault against the Muslim lines on the slopes of Mount Uhud, "Khalid adopted the sound tactics" of going around the mountain and bypassing the Muslim flank. He advanced through the Wadi Qanat valley west of Uhud until being checked by Muslim archers south of the valley at Mount Ruma. The Muslims gained the early advantage in the fight, but after most of the Muslim archers abandoned their positions to join the raiding of the Meccans' camp, Khalid charged against the resulting break in the Muslims' rear defensive lines. In the ensuing rout, several dozen Muslims were killed. The narratives of the battle describe Khalid riding through the field, slaying the Muslims with his lance. Shaban credits Khalid's "military genius" for the Quraysh's victory at Uhud, the only engagement in which the tribe defeated Muhammad.
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Khalid ibn al-Walid
Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career serving Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar, as a commander of the Muslim army. Khalid played leading command roles in the Ridda Wars against rebel tribes in Arabia in 632–633, the initial campaigns in Sasanian Iraq in 633–634, and the conquest of Byzantine Syria in 634–638.
As a horseman of the Quraysh's aristocratic Banu Makhzum clan, which ardently opposed Muhammad, Khalid played an instrumental role in defeating Muhammad and his followers during the Battle of Uhud in 625. In 627 or 629, he converted to Islam in the presence of Muhammad, who inducted him as an official military commander among the Muslims and gave him the title of Sayf Allah (lit. 'Sword of God'). During the Battle of Mu'ta, Khalid coordinated the safe withdrawal of Muslim troops against the Byzantines. He also led the Bedouins under the Muslim army during the Muslim conquest of Mecca in 629–630 and the Battle of Hunayn in 630. After Muhammad's death, Khalid was appointed to Najd and al-Yamama to suppress or subjugate the Arab tribes opposed to the nascent Muslim state; this campaign culminated in Khalid's victory over rebel leaders Tulayha and Musaylima at the Battle of Buzakha in 632 and the Battle of Yamama in 633, respectively.
Khalid subsequently launched campaigns against the predominantly Christian Arab tribes and the Sasanian Persian garrisons along the Euphrates valley in Iraq. Abu Bakr later reassigned him to command the Muslim armies in Syria, where he led his forces on an unconventional march across a long, waterless stretch of the Syrian Desert, boosting his reputation as a military strategist. As a result of decisive victories led by Khalid against the Byzantines at Ajnadayn (634), Fahl (634 or 635), Damascus (634–635), and the Yarmouk (636), the Muslim army conquered most of the Levant. Khalid was subsequently demoted and removed from the army's high command by Umar. Khalid continued service as the key lieutenant of his successor Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah in the sieges of Homs and Aleppo and the Battle of Qinnasrin, all in 637–638. These engagements collectively precipitated the retreat of imperial Byzantine troops from Syria under Emperor Heraclius. Around 638, Umar dismissed Khalid from both his military command and his position as governor of Jund Qinnasrin. Khalid died in 642, either in Medina or Homs.
Khalid is generally considered by historians to be one of the most seasoned and accomplished generals in Islamic history, and he is likewise commemorated throughout the Arab world. Islamic tradition credits him with decisive battlefield tactics and effective leadership during the early Muslim conquests. However, historical accounts offer differing perspectives on certain events, including his execution of Malik ibn Nuwayra during the Ridda Wars and his dismissal from command by Umar. Khalid's military fame disturbed some pious early Muslims, most notably Umar, who feared it could develop into a personality cult. In Sunni tradition, Khalid is generally honored as a heroic figure, whereas Shia tradition portrays him more critically.
Khalid's father was al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, an arbitrator of local disputes in Mecca in the Hejaz (western Arabia). Al-Walid is identified by the historians Ibn Hisham (d. 833), Ibn Durayd (d. 837) and Ibn Habib (d. 859) as the "derider" of the Islamic prophet Muhammad mentioned in the Meccan suras (chapters) of the Qur'an. He belonged to the Banu Makhzum, a leading clan of the Quraysh tribe and Mecca's pre-Islamic aristocracy. The Makhzum are credited for introducing Meccan commerce to foreign markets, particularly Yemen and Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and developed a reputation among the Quraysh for their intellect, nobility and wealth. Their prominence was owed to the leadership of Khalid's paternal grandfather al-Mughira ibn Abd Allah. Khalid's paternal uncle Hisham was known as the 'lord of Mecca' and the date of his death was used by the Quraysh as the start of their calendar. The historian Muhammad Abdulhayy Shaban describes Khalid as "a man of considerable standing" within his clan and Mecca in general.
Khalid's mother was al-Asma bint al-Harith ibn Hazn, commonly known as Lubaba al-Sughra ('Lubaba the Younger', to distinguish her from her elder half-sister Lubaba al-Kubra) of the nomadic Banu Hilal tribe. Lubaba al-Sughra converted to Islam about c. 622 and her paternal half-sister Maymuna became a wife of Muhammad. She was also half-sister of Asma bint Umais, who successively married to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Abu Bakr, and later Ali ibn Abi Talib. Through his maternal relations, Khalid became highly familiarized with the Bedouin (nomadic Arab) lifestyle. Descriptions of Khalid’s appearance are rare, but some accounts claim he so closely resembled Umar in both looks and voice that people with poor eyesight often confused them.
The Makhzum were strongly opposed to Muhammad, and the clan's preeminent leader Amr ibn Hisham (Abu Jahl), Khalid's first cousin, organized the boycott of Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim of Quraysh, in c. 616–618. After Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina in 622, the Makhzum under Abu Jahl commanded the war against him until they were routed at the Battle of Badr in 624. About twenty-five of Khalid's paternal cousins, including Abu Jahl, and numerous other kinsmen were slain in that engagement.
The following year, Khalid commanded the right flank of the cavalry in the Meccan army which confronted Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud north of Medina. According to the historian Donald Routledge Hill, rather than launching a frontal assault against the Muslim lines on the slopes of Mount Uhud, "Khalid adopted the sound tactics" of going around the mountain and bypassing the Muslim flank. He advanced through the Wadi Qanat valley west of Uhud until being checked by Muslim archers south of the valley at Mount Ruma. The Muslims gained the early advantage in the fight, but after most of the Muslim archers abandoned their positions to join the raiding of the Meccans' camp, Khalid charged against the resulting break in the Muslims' rear defensive lines. In the ensuing rout, several dozen Muslims were killed. The narratives of the battle describe Khalid riding through the field, slaying the Muslims with his lance. Shaban credits Khalid's "military genius" for the Quraysh's victory at Uhud, the only engagement in which the tribe defeated Muhammad.