Khalid Ibn Al Waleed

Khalid Ibn Al Waleed is an example of the spectacular courage showed by early Muslims when facing the enemy. The fact that he fought in over 100 battles and never lost one of them makes him, without a doubt, one of the most successful military commanders of all time. To be in the same category of legendary military leaders such as Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, and Napoleon is an incredible testament to the skills and abilities of Khaild Ibn Al-Waleed. But to be given the title "Saif Allah" (The Sword of Allah) puts him at the highest rank of hand-to-hand combatants in history.

His sword was given the blessing of the creator of the universe so there is no person could have walked away alive after fighting Khalid Ibn Al Waleed, not even the Dark Knight himself. He is the chief officer responsible for the Muslims temporary losing their one and only battle at Uhud. He would eventually embrace Islam and plead to the Prophet Muhammad to ask Allah for forgiveness for his past actions.

This was a man who feared no person and was disappointed that he did not die fighting on the battlefield. He was eagerly looking forward death because of his solid belief in Allah and was so relentless in the pursuit of his enemies; they thought he was a human tornado. He never let the Persians or the Romans rest when the battles took place and it is reported that he would go through multiple swords which would be broken over the heads of the enemies. His tactical genius was so overwhelming that the 2^nd Caliph Umar suspected that Muslims began to believe victory depended upon Khalid.

The caliph Umar Ibn Al Khatab, who was actually a cousin of Khalid, removed him from his command position because there was tension between the authority of the Caliph and the popularity of Khalid. A. I. Akram reports in his book that the two wrestled together as teenagers and one time Khalid threw Umar on the floor so hard, he broke Umar Ibn al Khatab’s leg. The two would still be friends after the incident and Khalid would not harbor any negative feelings towards Umar after being reduced in rank or being removed from the Islamic army.

When Khalid was demoted in the command of the Islamic army, Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah was appointed. Under this new leadership, the Muslims still obliterated their opponents with Khalid fighting only as a foot soldier. The Duke of Wellington once remarked that “Napoleon’s presence on the battlefield was worth 40,000 men.” It is not an exaggeration to say that Khalid ibn Walid’s presence was worth 100,000 men.

At the Battle of Firaz, the Muslim army under Khalid was 15,000 strong. Their opponents were the combined forces of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empire with tribes of Arab Christians helping them who altogether totaled 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers. Despite fighting an army ten times its size, the Muslim army blasted the Persians and Byzantines into the sea killing 50,000 of them in one day. The inferior forces of the Muslims had the equalizer of superior generalship from Khalid which allowed them to overcome numerical odds every time they fought a war. It was an immeasurable blessing from Allah that the Muslims had such a man fighting on their side.

After having led the destruction of two empires, Khalid would collapse in bed and show that he was only human. At the time he died, Khalid was in a near depression state because he would die lying down. He is quoted as saying:"After all my battles, my body is scarred with wounds everywhere. But here I am, dying in bed, as if I had never been in a war. May all the cowards not have a day's rest after my death." The cowards, who he was referring to, can only mean the enemies of the Muslims. Yet we know there are cowards among our own ranks who submit to the great Western powers in exchange for a few pleasures of this world. May Allah make the ranks of the Muslims strong and purify them from the weakness and cowardliness that lurks around us.