[life]

Hazrat Khalid Bin Waleed(RA)


Remember this is a story about a warrior who didn't loose a single battle

In a battlezone Khalid Bin Al-Waleed (ra) was a right element. To be a warrior was his destiny. He knew not fear and was always ready to confront the enemy on his own daring terms. He succeded in combating on his terms mainly because the enemy all too often under estimated the Muslims because inferior weaponry and especially numbers. But they knew not who they were up against.

Hazrat Abu bakr Siddique (ra) wanted a second opinion on Khalid Bin Al-Waleed (ra): When Abu Bakr was planning the Campaign of the Apostasy, he discussed with Amr bin Al Aas the appointment of various generals as corps commanders. The Caliph said, "O Amr, you are the shrewdest of the Arabs in judgement. What is your opinion of Khalid?" Amr replied, "He is a master of war; a friend of death. He has the dash of a lion and the patience of a cat!"

He was the first Muslim commander to leave Arabia and conquer foreign lands; the first Muslim to humble two great empires, one after the other. Almost all his battles are studies in military leadership, especially Uhud, azima, Walaja, Muzayyah, Ajnadein and Yarmuk. His finest battle was Walaja, while his greatest was undoubtedly Yarmuk.”

Khalid Bin Al-Waleed (ra) on the battlefield:

" The Roman commander at Qinassareen was a general named Meenas-a distinguished soldier who was loved by his men. Meenas knew that if he stayed in Qinassareen, he would be besieged by the Muslims and would eventually have to surrender, as at present no help could be expected from the Emperor. He therefore decided to take the offensive and attack the leading elements of the Muslim army well forward of the city and defeat them before they could be joined by the main body. With this plan in mind, Meenas attacked the Mobile Guard at Hazif with a force whose strength is not recorded; He either did not know that Khalid was present with the leading elements of the Muslim army or did not believe all that he had heard about Khalid.For Khalid to throw his cavalry into fighting formation for battle was a matter of minutes, and soon a fierce action was raging at Hazir. The battle was still in its early stages when Meenas was killed; and as the news of his death spread among his men, the Romans went wild with fury and attacked savagely to avenge their beloved leader's death. But they were up against the finest body of men of the time. Their very desire for vengeance proved their undoing, for not a single Roman survived the Battle of Hazir. 3 The Mobile Guard took this encounter in its stride as one of its many victories. As soon as the battle was over, the people of Hazir came out of their town to greet Khalid. They pleaded that they were Arabs and had no intention to fight him. Khalid accepted their surrender, and advanced to Qinassareen.When Umar received reports of the Battle of Hazir, he made no attempt to conceal his admiration - for the military genius of Khalid. "Khalid is truly the commander," 4 Umar exclaimed. "May Allah have mercy upon Abu Bakr. He was a better judge of men than I have been." 5 This was Umar's first admission that perhaps he had not judged Khalid rightly."

He was fierce on the battlefield:

Narrated Khalid bin Al-Walid:
"On the day of the Battle of Mu'tah, nine swords were broken in my hand, and nothing was left in my hand except a Yemenite sword of mine." [Bukhari]


Death:

“Some time in 642 (21 Hijri), at the age of 58, Khalid was taken ill. We do not know the nature of his illness, but it was a prolonged one and took the strength out of him. As with all vigorous, active men upon whom an inactive retirement is suddenly thrust, Khalid's health and physique had declined rapidly. This last illness proved too much for him; and Khalid's sick bed became his death bed. He lay in bed, impatient and rebellious against a fate which had robbed him of a glorious, violent death in battle. Knowing that he had not long to live, it irked him to await death in bed.

A few days before his end, an old friend called to see him and sat at his bedside. Khalid raised the cover from his right leg and said to his visitor, "Do you see a space of the span of a hand on my leg which is not covered by some scar of the wound of a sword or an arrow or a lance?"

The friend examined Khalid's leg and confessed that he did not. Khalid raised the cover from his left leg and repeated his question. Again the friend agreed that between the wounds farthest apart the space was less than a hand's span.

Khalid raised his right arm and then his left, for a similar examination and with a similar result. Next he bared his great chest, now devoid of most of its mighty sinews, and here again the friend was met with a sight which made him wonder how a man wounded in so many places could survive The friend again admitted that he could not see the space of one hand span of unmarked skin.

Khalid had made his point. "Do you not see?" he asked impatiently. "I have sought martyrdom in a hundred battles. Why could I not have died in battle?"

"You could not die in battle", replied the friend.

"Why not?"

"You must understand, O Khalid," the friend explained, "that when the Messenger of Allah, on whom be the blessings of Allah and peace, named you Sword of Allah, he predetermined that you would not fall in battle. If you had been killed by an unbeliever it would have meant that Allah's sword had been broken by an enemy of Allah; and that could never be."