Commander Khalid bin Walid (RA) -Masrafi Noor Nowfal

On a golden day in the 8th Hijri, the greatest warrior Khalid bin Walid (RA) began his journey to Islam. He was the son of Walid ibn Mughira. The holy blood of the Prophet (PBUH) and Khalid flowed from the same source six generations ago.

Khalid’s father Walid was the richest and most generous person in Mecca. He was not only a voice, but he was also rich, famous, respected by everyone and loved by everyone. The Prophet (PBUH) was very optimistic about the Walis among his opponents. He was the most polite opponent among those who opposed the Prophet (PBUH). He never physically or mentally abused the Prophet (PBUH). But he did not accept Islam.

Khalid’s acceptance of Islam:
After the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Muslims travelled to Mecca to perform their obligatory Umrah. Then Khalid’s brother Walid, who had previously converted to Islam and moved to Medina, also joined them. Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) expected to find Khalid in Mecca. But he had gone outside Mecca. Walid left a message for his brother that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was very optimistic about your conversion to Islam. We know that you are a very intelligent person. So we are genuinely interested in your conversion to Islam.

Khalid began to think about converting to Islam. Khalid set out for Medina that night. On the way, Amr ibn al-As and Uthman ibn Talha met him. They also decided to convert to Islam.

Obtaining the title of Saifullah:
About a month and a half after Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him) converted to Islam, the Battle of Mut’ar took place. In the war, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed Zaid ibn Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) as the commander and appointed two more commanders one after the other. The number of the Roman army in the war was about two hundred thousand, and the number of the Muslims was only three thousand.

Three Muslim commanders were martyred in the battle. Then the Muslims handed over the responsibility of the commander to Khalid. Khalid adopted two types of tactics on the battlefield.

The first tactic: He organised the soldiers for quick and short-term attacks. The purpose of this tactic was to stop the frontal attack of the Roman army.

Second tactic: At midnight, he sent some groups away and ordered them to return to the battlefield at a certain time. The next day, the Roman army saw a group of soldiers coming to help the Muslims on the battlefield, and after two or three hours, another group, and after two or three hours, another group. This spread fear among the Roman soldiers that new groups were coming to help the Muslims.

The next night, Khalid returned his army to Medina. This was not a political victory for the Muslims. It was a victory that prevented the Muslims from remaining calm.
Fifteen people were martyred in Muta. Only 1% of the three thousand soldiers were martyred. This event was also a kind of victory.

In this battle, the Prophet (peace be upon him) awarded him the title of Saifullah. “Saifullah” means the sword of Allah. The word “Saifullah” is directly quoted in Sahih Bukhari.

Khalid in the conquest of Mecca:
Khalid was one of the first leaders during the conquest of Mecca. He was one of the leaders the Prophet (peace be upon him) appointed on the day of the conquest of Mecca. During the conquest of Mecca, only Khalid’s group faced resistance; a small group of people resisted them, resulting in little bloodshed.

“For this act he had to answer to the Prophet (peace be upon him). When the Prophet (peace be upon him) learned that the polytheists had launched the first attack, he accepted it as the will of Allah and remained silent.”

The most honourable thing for Khalid during the conquest of Mecca was the destruction of the famous idol of Uzza in Mecca.

Three famous strategies of Khalid:
In 633 AD, Khalid fought in what is now southern Iraq. Many battles took place at that time. Here we will discuss only three famous strategies used in Iraq.

First strategy: This war is called the “Battle of Chains.”. Khalid devised a wonderful strategy in the first war. He kept moving from one fort to another. But he did not engage in battle with the enemy. The Sassanid army gathered in one fort for the battle, so Khalid (RA) moved to another fort. As the standoff continued, the Persian army became a little worried that if we did not move forward to defend that fort, Khalid would capture it. And as soon as they reached that fort, they immediately left the others. In this way, Khalid scattered the Persian army.

Second strategy: This war is called the “Battle of Rivers.”. Again, Khalid adopted a unique strategy. He adopted the strategy of surprising the opponent.

Only a part of the enemy was able to come. He travelled non-stop. When he reached the battlefield, the advance party of the enemy army had set up camp. The entire enemy army had not yet arrived. Khalid attacked and won the victory.

Third Strategy: The third battle is the “Battle of Olaja”. Khalid adopted the most risky strategy in the Battle of Olaja. The war history books call this strategy a “pincer movement.” The famous Chinese general Sanjur discussed this strategy in his book “Art of War”, but he discouraged its application.

Few of the best generals in human history used it. Alexander the Great, Hannibal the Conqueror and Khalid (RA) used this strategy. The reason for calling it a “pincer movement” is that its main goal is to pin (encircle), to thin out one’s own army, and to crush the enemy’s army. However, it is very risky.

What is positive about it? Dividing the army into small groups and using it to the maximum against a large group.

This strategy is also studied in the present time. This is intriguing because Khalid (RA) never studied these things!

Death of Khalid bin Walid:
Once Khalid (RA) became very ill. And he realised that he was going to die; when people came to see him on his deathbed, he burst into tears. Everyone tried to console him and said, ‘Why are you crying?’ You have done such a wonderful job.

Then Khalid (RA) said, ‘Look at my body; you will not find a space the size of a finger on it where a sword, spear, or arrow has not been hit, but today I am dying like a woman.’

The Sword of Allah, Khalid (RA), was dying in the year 21-22 AH, 242 AD.

Roman Chronicle Called Saifullah:
Khalid is mentioned in the earliest books of Roman history. The Roman Chronicle by the Latin historian discusses, ‘We were almost winning the battle of Muta when we killed one of their commanders, the son of Muhammad. Finally, one of their commanders, whom they called Saifullah (Sword of God), took charge of the commander and protected and made the Muslims safe.

The enemies of Islam also knew him at that time as the Sword of Allah. They did not know his name. They referred to him as Saifullah (Sword of God), which means “Sword of God,” according to one of their commanders. His character is truly extraordinary!