Biography of Khalid ibn Walid

Khalid ibn Walid radhiyallahu anhu was a famous and feared warlord on the battlefield, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam gave him the title "Saifullah" which is the sword of God that is drawn.

He was one of the most important undefeated warlords throughout his career. This companion of Rasulullah Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam converted to Islam in the eighth year of Hijri and has been involved in dozens of wars.

Khalid ibn Walid was the commander of the Muslim army in the famous battles of Yamamah and Yarmuk, and he had crossed the Iraqi border to Syria in five nights with the soldiers who followed him. This is one of the wonders of this war commander.

The Birth

Khalid ibn Walid was born about 17 years before the time of Islamic development. He was a member of the Banu Makhzum tribe, a branch of the Quraish tribe. His father was named Walid and his mother Lubabah.

Khalid was among the Prophet's very close family. Maimunah ibnt Al-Harits radhiallahu 'anhu, aunt of Khalid, was the wife of the Prophet. With Umar himself, Khalid also had a family relationship, namely his cousin.

Khalid ibn Walid Converts to Islam

Before converting to Islam The name Khalid ibn Walid is very famous as the commander of the invincible army of the Kafir Quraish. Khalid was so brave and powerful both on the battlefield and an expert in formulating war strategies.

Khalid ibn Walid converted to Islam after the battle of Uhud which took away many Muslim fighters. In that war, Khalid ibn Walid became the commander of the Kafir Quraish Army. He converted to Islam after hearing the recitation of the Qur'anic verse surat al hujarat (Qs 49:13) recited by Bilal, a black and illiterate slave.

After that, the Prophet gave him the title "Syaifulloh which means" the sword of God that is drawn. After Khalid ibn Walid joined Islam, the Muslim army became stronger until it was able to conquer the city of Mecca and the Quraysh infidel army.

The role of Khalid ibn Walid in the Battle of Mu'tah

When the battle of Mu'tah took place. the number of Muslim soldiers at that time was about three thousand personnel while the Romans had two hundred thousand personnel, seeing the lack of balance in the number of Muslim soldiers compared to their enemies, the attitude of knighthood and heroism of the Muslims in this war was revealed.

The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam had ordered that the army be led by Zaid ibn Haritsah, and if he was killed then the leadership shifted to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and if killed then the leadership was replaced by Abdullah ibn Rawahah.

All the above leaders were martyred in this battle, then the flag was taken over by Tsabit ibn Arqam, and he said to the Muslims: Choose a man as your leader, then they chose Khalid ibn Walid, then on this occasion his courage and genius were evident.

He re -arranged the troops, then he changed the strategy by making the right wing troops move to the left wing and vice versa the left wing troops moved to the right, then some troops were positioned slightly backwards, after a while they came as if new rock troops had arrived, this is in order to weaken the enemy's fighting spirit then the unity of the Muslim army was seen to be large over the Roman forces so that they retreated and their spirit weakened.

In the battle of Mu'tah, only a few Muslims became victims, while on the side of the infidels there were many.

The Other Battles

Khalid also took part in the war against the apostates, he also took part in the war against Iraq, and scholars differed on why Khalid was fired as a war commander in Syria, and hopefully what is true is what Umar ibn Khattab radhiyallahu 'anhu said. : No, I will fire Khalid so that the people know that in fact Allah defended his religion not with Khalid.

Among his great expressions is that it is not a night where I am with a bride whom I love more than a cold and snowy night in an army of Muhajireen to attack the enemy.

He once wrote a letter to the emperor of Persia saying, "Truly I have come to you with an army that loves death as much as the Persians love to drink wine."

Qais ibn Hazim said, "I have heard Khalid say, 'Jihad has prevented me from learning Al-Qur'anul Karim.'"

The Death

Although he was often active in many wars to uphold the religion of God, he did not fall in battle.

Abu Zannad said, "At the time of Khalid's death he wept and said, 'I have followed this war and this war with the army, and there is not a single span of my body except on it there is a scar from a sword or an arrow or a spear and now I die on my bed stumbling as a camel dies. Do not let these eyes be closed like the eyes of cowards. '"

From Sahl ibn Abi Umamah ibn Hanif from his father from his grandfather from the Prophet sallallaahu' alaihi wa sallam said," Whoever asks God to die a martyr in fact then God will convey it to the degree of martyrs even if he dies in bed . ”

Then at the time of his death, he left nothing but his horses, weapons and slaves which he used as alms in the way of Allah, when the news of the death reached the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn Al-Khattab he said, "May Allah give His mercy to Abu Sulaiman, indeed he as we expected. ”

And it is mentioned in the hadith narrated by Umar ibn Al-Khattab about zakat that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "As for Khalid, he has kept his armor and war equipment in the way of Allah."

Khalid ibn Walid died in the year 21 H. in Himsh at the age of 52 years.

Source: Biografi Khalid Bin Walid

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