The genealogy of this person is as follows: Khālid b. al-Walīd b. al-Mughīra b. ʿAbd Allāh b.
ʿUmar b. Makhzūm al-Qurashī Abū Sulaymān al-Makhzūmī. He was known by the epithet "Sayf Allāh" (the Sword of Allah), meaning "the Sword of God." He was among the famous champions. He was never defeated, neither in the pre-Islamic period nor during the era of Islam. His mother’s name was Asmāʾ bint Ḥāris. She was the sister of Lubāba bint Ḥāris and Maymūna bint Ḥāris. As is well known, Maymūna was the Mother of the Believers, that is, the wife of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). Al-Wāqidī said: Khālid became Muslim on the first day of the month of Ṣafar in the eighth year of the Hijra. He participated in the Battle of Muʾta. Without a formal appointment, the command of the army passed to him. That day, he fought with unprecedented ferocity. Nine swords were broken in his hand; only a Yemeni saber remained. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said about him:
"Zayd took the banner, but he was struck down. Then Jaʿfar took the banner, and he too was struck down. Then ʿAbd Allāh b. Rawāḥa took it, and he too was struck down. Then one of the swords of Allah took the banner, and Allah granted victory at his hands." It is reported that during the Battle of Yarmūk, Khālid’s helmet fell off, and when he began searching for it during the battle, he was reproached. He said: "In this helmet is a hair from the forelock of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him). In every battle in which I have had this hair with me, I have been granted victory by its blessing."
According to a narration in the Musnad of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal from Wahshī b. Ḥarb, when Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq appointed Khālid b. al-Walīd as commander to fight the apostates, he said: "I heard the Messenger of God say: 'Khālid b. al-Walīd is an excellent servant of Allah and a brother of his tribe. Khālid b. al-Walīd is one of the swords Allah has drawn against the disbelievers and the hypocrites.'"
Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal narrated from ʿAbd al-Malik b. ʿUmayr who said:
"ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb appointed Abū ʿUbayda as commander in Syria and dismissed Khālid b. al-Walīd from his command there. Upon this, Khālid said to the people of Syria: 'The trustworthy one of this community has been sent to you, for I heard the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) say: "The trustworthy one of this community is Abū ʿUbayda b. al-Jarrāḥ."' On the other hand, Abū ʿUbayda said: 'I heard the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) say: "Khālid is one of the swords of Allah. What an excellent young man of his tribe he is."' In an authentic hadith it is also said: 'As for Khālid, you will wrong him, yet he has devoted his armor and strength to the cause of Allah.' Khālid b. al-Walīd participated in the conquest of Mecca, the expedition of Ḥunayn, and, during the Prophet’s lifetime, led a campaign against the Banū Jazīma tribe and fought them. There is disagreement about whether he participated in the conquest of Khaybar. At the time of the conquest, he entered Mecca as the commander of a military unit and killed many of the Quraysh. This has been detailed in the section on the conquest of Mecca.
Praise and gratitude be to Allah. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) sent Khālid to destroy al-ʿUzzā, the idol of the Hawāzin. While destroying it, he said: "O ʿUzzā! I do not venerate you, rather I reject you. Indeed, I see that Allah has humiliated you." After saying this, he burned al-ʿUzzā. After the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), Abū Bakr assigned him to fight the apostates and those who refused to pay zakat. He achieved successes that both satisfied himself and brought relief to the hearts of other Muslims. Then Abū Bakr sent him to Iraq, and after Iraq, he went to Syria.
Khālid b. al-Walīd performed such meritorious deeds that they satisfied hearts and eyes. Such extraordinary feats had never been heard of. Later, ʿUmar dismissed him from command and appointed Abū ʿUbayda in his place, but kept him as a consultant in military matters. He remained in Syria until he died in his bed. May Allah be pleased with him.
Al-Wāqidī narrated from Abū al-Zinād who said: Khālid b. al-Walīd wept as he was dying and said: "I participated in such-and-such battles, and there is not a handspan on my body without a sword strike, spear, or lance wound, yet here I am dying in my bed like a camel. May the eyes of cowards never sleep!" Abū Yaʿlā narrated that Khālid b. al-Walīd said: "A night when a bride is brought to me or the birth of a son is announced to me is not more beloved to me than a bitterly cold night when I attack the enemy with the Muhājirūn."
Abū Bakr b. ʿAyyāsh narrated from Khaythama who said: "A man with a wineskin came to Khālid. Khālid said: 'O Allah, turn this into honey.' And the wine turned into honey." In another narration: A man with a wineskin came to Khālid b. al-Walīd. Khālid asked him:
- What is this? The man replied:
- It is honey. Thereupon Khālid said:
- O Allah, turn this into vinegar, and made dua (supplication). When the man returned to his companions, he said: 'I have brought you a drink the like of which the Arabs have never tasted.' Then he opened the wineskin and found that its contents had turned into vinegar. He said: 'By Allah, Khālid’s dua has affected it.'"
Ḥammād b. Salama narrated from Anas who said: Khālid confronted the enemy. The Muslims turned back in defeat, but Khālid and the brother of Barāʾ b. Mālik stood firm. I heard their conversation. Khālid bowed his head for a while and looked at the ground, then he raised it and looked at the sky for a while. Whenever he faced such a situation, he would do this. Then he said to Barāʾ’s brother:
- Come, mount your steed. And to the Muslims with him, he said:
- There is no road left to Medina for you. Before us is only Paradise. Then he attacked the enemy and defeated the polytheists.
Mālik narrated that ʿUmar said to Abū Bakr: "Write to Khālid that he should not give even a sheep or a camel to anyone without your order." Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote such a letter to Khālid. Khālid replied: "Either leave me to my duty, or take it for yourself." ʿUmar suggested to Abū Bakr that he dismiss him. But Abū Bakr asked: "Who can show me the merits that Khālid has shown?"
ʿUmar replied:
- I can.
Abū Bakr said:
- Let me see you, then. Upon this, ʿUmar prepared himself. His mount was brought to the door. He was about to set out. Then the Companions (ṣaḥāba) came and advised Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq to keep ʿUmar in Medina and Khālid in Syria. When ʿUmar became caliph, he sent Khālid a letter similar to the one Abū Bakr had sent. When Khālid gave the same reply, ʿUmar dismissed him, saying: "I do not want Allah to see me fail to do what I advised Abū Bakr to do."
In his work "Tārīkh," al-Bukhārī narrated from Yāsir b. Sumay al-Burrī who said:
"I heard ʿUmar in Jābiya apologizing to the people for dismissing Khālid, saying: 'I had ordered Khālid to distribute the spoils of war among the Muhājirūn, but he gave them to the powerful, the noble, and the eloquent. So I dismissed him and appointed Abū ʿUbayda as commander.' Abū ʿAmr b. Ḥafṣ b. al-Mughīra said: 'O ʿUmar, this excuse is not acceptable, for you dismissed a commander appointed by the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), lowered a banner he had raised, sheathed a sword Allah had drawn, and severed bonds of friendship. You were jealous of your cousin.' ʿUmar replied: 'You are a close relative and young in age. You are angry for your cousin.' Al-Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. Saʿīd, and others said: 'Khālid b. al-Walīd died in the twenty-first year of the Hijra in a village one mile from Ḥimṣ and made a bequest to ʿUmar.'"
Duḥaym and others said he died in Medina. But the sounder opinion is the first. As previously mentioned, ʿUmar dismissed Khālid because he gave 10,000 dirhams to al-Ashʿath b. Qays and reclaimed the 10,000 dirhams he had given him. ʿUmar reproached him for going to the bath and rubbing his body with a mixture of crushed nūwar (a type of flower), aspur, and wine, but Khālid defended himself by saying it was a substance used for washing. According to another narration, Khālid divorced one of his wives, saying: "I did not divorce her because I suspected anything about her, but because she never fell ill with me, nor did any wound befall her body, head, or any part of her."
Sayf b. ʿUmar and others said: When ʿUmar dismissed Khālid from Syria and al-Muthannā b. Ḥāritha from Iraq, he said: "I dismissed Khālid and al-Muthannā so that people would not believe that Allah strengthened this religion through their help, for the only true strength is Allah’s, not theirs."
Again, according to Sayf b. ʿUmar, when ʿUmar dismissed Khālid from his post in Kinnasrīn and took some property from him, he said to Khālid: "You are precious and honorable to me, and henceforth you will receive nothing from me that you dislike."
Al-Aṣmaʿī narrated from al-Shaʿbī who said:
"In their youth, ʿUmar and Khālid wrestled. Khālid was ʿUmar’s cousin. Khālid broke ʿUmar’s leg. It was set and healed. This was the cause of enmity between them."
Al-Aṣmaʿī narrated from Muḥammad b. Sīrīn who said:
"Khālid went to ʿUmar wearing a silk shirt. ʿUmar asked him:
- What is this, O Khālid?
- What harm is there in it, O Commander of the Believers? Does not ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf also wear a silk shirt?
- Are you like ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, are you of the same rank? I order those in the house to each take hold of a corner of your shirt and pull. Upon ʿUmar’s order, those present began to tear Khālid’s shirt until it was shredded."
ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Mubārak narrated from Abū Waʾil who said: "As Khālid b. al-Walīd was dying, he said: 'I sought death in places where I thought I would die, but it was not decreed for me. Yet dying in my bed has been allotted to me. There is nothing I hope will benefit me except saying "Lā ilāha illā Allāh" (There is no god but Allah) and a night when I sheltered under my shield in the rain until morning, waiting to attack the enemy. When I die, look to my weapons and my horse; use them in the path of Allah.'"
When Khālid died, ʿUmar attended his funeral prayer and said: "If the women of the family of al-Walīd do not throw dust on their heads or wail loudly, they may weep for Khālid."
Muḥammad b. Saʿd narrated from Shaqīq b. Salama who said:
"When Khālid b. al-Walīd died, the women of the Banū Mughīra gathered in his house and began to weep over him. It was said to ʿUmar:
'The women have gathered in Khālid’s house and are weeping over him. They may say things you dislike. Send word to put an end to their lamentation and wailing.'
ʿUmar replied:
'As long as they do not throw dust on their heads or wail loudly, there is no harm in them weeping for Abū Sulaymān (Khālid).'
Isḥāq b. Bishr and Muḥammad said: "Khālid b. al-Walīd died in Medina. ʿUmar attended his funeral. His mother recited the following poem:
'You are better than a million men when men fall face down.'
Upon hearing this from Khālid’s mother, ʿUmar replied: 'You have spoken the truth, by Allah, it is so.'
Sayf b. ʿUmar narrated from Sālim who said:
"Khālid stayed in Medina for a while. When ʿUmar no longer feared that people would be led astray by him, he decided to reappoint him as commander upon returning from the pilgrimage. But Khālid said he was ill. He was about to leave Medina to visit his mother. He said to her:
'Take me to the place of my emigration.' They brought him to Medina. His mother nursed him. When his condition worsened, word was sent to ʿUmar, who was three days’ journey away. He hastened his mount. When he arrived in Medina, Khālid had died. ʿUmar grieved for him, said istirjāʿ ("Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return"), and sat at Khālid’s door until the funeral preparations were complete. When the mourning women began to weep for Khālid, someone asked ʿUmar:
- Will you not prevent them from weeping?
ʿUmar replied:
'As long as the women of Quraysh do not throw dust on their heads or wail loudly, there is no harm in them weeping for Abū Sulaymān (Khālid).'
When he attended Khālid’s funeral, ʿUmar heard a woman in ihrām weeping for Khālid and saying:
'You are better than a million men when men fall face down.
Are they brave? You are braver than the maned lion of Damr b. Juhm.
Are they generous? You are more generous than the Deyyās flood flowing between the mountains.'
ʿUmar asked:
- Who is this?
- It is Khālid’s mother, he was told. ʿUmar said:
- If she is his mother, she may weep for him for three days. Can women, by weeping, bring forth another like Khālid?
ʿUmar could not sleep until the third night after Khālid’s death. Regarding the bringing of Khālid’s body, the following poem was recited:
'You weep for one with whom friends had bonds, but not for heroes like mountains.
If you were to weep for them, their loss would be more grievous and harder than the loss of fifty or a hundred valuable camels.
After their loss, a people longed to reach their rank.
But they could not approach the means and causes of maturity and perfection.'
According to another narration, ʿUmar said to Khālid’s mother: "Do you prefer Khālid, or the reward you will gain if you are patient over his death? I swear, you will not leave here without applying henna to your hands."
All these accounts prove that Khālid b. al-Walīd died in al-Madīna al-Nabawiyya. Duḥaym ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Ibrāhīm al-Dimashqī also held this view. However, according to the well-known opinion transmitted from the majority of scholars, including al-Wāqidī, his scribe Muḥammad b. Saʿd, Abū ʿUbayd Qāsim b. Sallām, Ibrāhīm b. Munḏir, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Numayr, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿUṣfūrī, Mūsā b. Ayyūb, Abū Sulaymān b. Abī Muḥammad, and others, Khālid b. al-Walīd died in Ḥimṣ in the twenty-first year of the Hijra. According to al-Wāqidī, he made a bequest to ʿUmar. Muḥammad b. Saʿd narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī al-Zinād who said:
"After being dismissed by ʿUmar, Khālid b. al-Walīd came to Medina, performed ʿumra, then returned to Syria, where he remained until he died in the twenty-first year of the Hijra."
According to al-Wāqidī’s narration, when ʿUmar saw some pilgrims praying in the mosque of Qubā, he asked them:
- Where in Syria are you from?
- From Ḥimṣ.
- What news do you have?
- Khālid b. al-Walīd has died. Upon this, ʿUmar said istirjāʿ and said:
- Indeed, we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. By Allah, Khālid was one who would throw himself upon the enemy’s chest, blessed in counsel and intelligence.
Upon this, ʿAlī asked him:
- If that is so, why did you dismiss him?
- Because he gave much wealth to the noble and eloquent, he replied.
According to another narration, when ʿAlī asked him this, ʿUmar replied:
"I regret what I did to him."
Muḥammad b. Saʿd narrated from Qays b. Abī Ḥāzim who said:
"When Khālid b. al-Walīd died, ʿUmar said: May Allah have mercy on Abū Sulaymān (Khālid b. al-Walīd). We thought he had done some things he had not."
Juwayriya narrated from Nāfiʿ who said:
"When Khālid b. al-Walīd died, he left nothing but his horse, his slave, and his weapons."
Qāḍī Muʿāfa b. Zakariyyā al-Ḥarīrī narrated from Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥarnāz who said:
"Hishām b. Bakhtarī went with some men of the Banū Makhzūm to ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb. ʿUmar said to him:
- O Hishām, recite to me your poem about Khālid. When Hishām recited his poem, ʿUmar said:
- You have praised the late Abū Sulaymān too little. For he (i.e., Khālid b. al-Walīd) wished to abase shirk (associating partners with God) and humiliate the polytheists. Even if the enemy mocked him and found relief in his defeat, he would turn away from them so as not to anger Allah. May Allah curse the brother of Banū Tamīm. What a skilled poet he was.
'Say to the living, unlike the dead who have passed: Let another be prepared like him, as if this matter is finished.
The life of the living after me does not benefit me. Nor does the death of the dead make me immortal.'
After reciting this poem, ʿUmar said: 'May Allah have mercy on Abū Sulaymān (Khālid). The reward and recompense with Allah is better than the state he was in in this world. He died happy and lived praiseworthy. But I have not seen time say this.'"