Khalid ibn al-Walid
Called Sayf Allah, the Sword of God. He saved the army at Mu'tah, won the Ridda wars and led the victories in Iraq and at Yarmouk. He is remembered as undefeated as a Muslim commander and died in Hims in 642.
At a glance
- Lived
- c. 585 to 642
- Role
- Commander
- Era
- The Prophet's state in Madinah; Abu Bakr and Umar: the great conquests
- Chapter
- 1. The Rightly Guided Caliphs
Battles
- 629Battle of Mu'tah
Muslim withdrawal. The first clash with Byzantium.
- 632Battle of Yamama
Muslim victory. The hardest battle of the Ridda wars.
- 634Battle of Ajnadayn
Muslim victory. The first major battle against Byzantium in Palestine, fought weeks before Abu Bakr died.
- 634Siege of Damascus
City surrendered. After a siege of about a month the city surrendered in September 634.
- 636Battle of Yarmouk
Decisive Muslim victory. Six days of fighting destroyed the Byzantine field army.
Khalid ibn al-Walid's world
632: The Prophet's state in Madinah
In the ten years after the Hijrah, Madinah grew from one town into a state that held most of Arabia. When the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) died in June 632, the two great powers next door, Byzantium and Sasanian Persia, were worn out after decades of war with each other.
644: Abu Bakr and Umar: the great conquests
Within twelve years the Muslims defeated both superpowers of the age. Byzantium lost Syria at Yarmouk and Egypt soon after. Persia lost Iraq at Qadisiyyah and its heartland at Nahavand. Jerusalem surrendered in 637 and Umar came in person to accept it.
People of the same era
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