KHALID BIN WALID

Khalid bin Walid was the son of Walid bin al-Mughirah, who belonged to the tribe of Banu Maghzum. His father was the wealthiest man of his time. His father Walid al-Mughirah used to say, “Should the Qur’an and the Prophetic mission be revealed unto Muhammad, the indigent while I, the master of and the greatest among Quraish, be left out?”

Khalid grew up bearing animosity towards Islam and the Prophet of Islam. Hence he participated in each and every war waged against the Messenger of Allah. He raised a huge army and financed it from his own wealth to fight in the Battle of Uhad, lying in ambush to kill the Allah’s Messenger.

After seeing the Messenger of Allah had become invincible and people were accepting Islam in large numbers, he also accepted Islam 4 months before the “Conquest of Makkah”. Contrary to the clear instruction of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.s.), he killed 30 people on the day of the Conquest of Makkah.

On yet another occasion he disobeyed the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.s.) when he was sent by the Messenger to Banu Khuzaymah to invite them to Islam but did not ask him to fight anyone. Yet Khalid went there and afflicted them with treachery even after their declaration of acceptance of Islam, by asking them to lay down their arms, still killing some of them in cold blood. Abdul Rahman bin Awf, who was eye-witness to that incident, said that Khalid killed them only to seek revenge for both of his uncles whom Banu Khuzaymah had killed. (Tarikh al-Yaqubi, volume 2 page 61). When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.s.) heard about that shameful treachery, he thrice dissociated himself before Allah from what Khalid bin Walid had done. Then he sent them Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) carrying with him lot of money to pay their blood-money, the blood spilled by Khalid. As a rule, a brave man is always kind and merciful.

During the time of the First Caliph Abu Bakr, Khalid betrayed Malik ibn Numayrah and executed his men in cold blood, although they were Muslims. Then married Malik’s wife and cohabited with her the same night of her husband’s murder, discarding Islam’s Shariah with regard to the “Iddah” and the Arab’s principles of valor and manliness.

Even the second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab exposed him and called him an enemy of Allah, promising to stone him to death, which he never carried out even after he became the caliph.

Al-Tabari, in his book “Al-Riad al-Nadira” indicates that Banu Saleem had reneged, whereupon the First Caliph Abu Bakr sent them Khalid bin Walid, who gathered some of their men inside the sheds of animals then set them on fire. (Islam prohibits burning humans or animals or even green plants). When Umar ibn al-Khattab came to know about this incident, he went to see Abu Bakr and said, “Why do you let a man employ the same method of torture employed by Allah?”Abu Bakr replied, “By Allah I shall not shame a sword which Allah unsheathed against His foes till He Himself shames it.” In his Sahih, al-Bukhai indicates that the Messenger of Allah had said, “Nobody employs the fire for torture except Allah”

During the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, two incidents occurred which brought his dismissal from his military career.  At a city called Emesa, Khalid had a special bath with certain substance prepared with alcoholic mixture. Caliph Umar’s spies informed him about it as alcohol is forbidden in Islam. Another incident occurred shortly after the capture of Marash, when Khalid heard about a poet Ash’as, who had recited a poem praising him (Khalid). Khalid gave him a gift of 10,000 dirham apparently from the state treasury. (WIKIPEDIA)

Sources used:

  WIKIPEDIA

  Misbah- ul-Zulum, Roots of the Tragedy of Karbala                by Sayyid Imdad Imam

 Tragedy of al-Zahra: Doubts and Responses                              by Jafar Murtadha al-Amili