Khālid ibn al-Walīd
The greatest of the Muslim commanders, named by the Prophet ﷺ “the drawn sword of God”. He led armies at Muʾta, al-Yamāma, in Iraq and in Syria, and was never defeated in battle.
In brief
- His name
- Khālid ibn al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Makhzūmī, of Banū Makhzūm, the most formidable house of Quraysh.
- Before Islam
- He led the cavalry of Quraysh at Uḥud, and it was his manoeuvre that turned the battle against the Muslims.
- His Islam
- In 7 AH or early 8 AH — before the conquest of Mecca, together with ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ and ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥa.
- Muʾta
- He took the banner after Zayd, Jaʿfar, and Ibn Rawāḥa fell, and withdrew the army intact — and that day the Prophet ﷺ named him the sword of God.
- His commands
- Al-Yamāma against Musaylima · Iraq · Yarmūk in Syria — and the opening of Damascus.
- His death
- At Ḥimṣ in 21 AH, in his bed. He said: “There is not a hand’s breadth on my body without a sword-stroke or an arrow-wound — and here I die in my bed.”
His story
He was the foremost horseman of Quraysh and the harshest against the Muslims before his Islam. When God opened his heart he set out to migrate, and the Prophet ﷺ said on seeing him: “Praise be to God who guided you. I always saw in you an intelligence that I hoped would bring you only to good.”
At Muʾta three thousand met an immense host. The three appointed commanders fell one after another; he took the banner and fought until nine swords broke in his hand, then withdrew the army whole — a feat long remembered in the art of war.
When ʿUmar removed him from command of the Syrian army at the height of his victories, he heard and obeyed, and fought as a soldier under the man he had commanded. After his death ʿUmar said: “Let the women weep for Abū Sulaymān — one like Khālid is not forgotten.”