Khalid ibn al-Walid

Khalid ibn al-Walid (Arabic: خالد ابن الوليد; died 642), also known as Sayf- or Saif Allah ('Sword of God', was a Rashidun military general who led the Muslim conquests of Syria the 7th century.

Khalid ibn al-Walid خالد ابن الوليد
Born	Medina
Died	642 Medina or Homs
Possible burial place	The Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque, Homs, Syria
Allegiance	Quraysh (625–627 or 629) Muhammad (627 or 629–632) Rashidun Caliphate (632–638)
Service/branch	Rashidun army
Years of service	629–638
Commands held	Field commander in Najd and the Yamama (632–633) Supreme commander of Muslim armies in Syria (634–636) Field commander in northern Syria (636–638) Military governor of Qinnasrin (c. 638)
Battles/wars	Against Muslims: Battle of Uhud (625) Battle of the Trench (627) For Muslims: Battle of Mu'tah (629) Conquest of Mecca (629/30) Battle of Hunayn (630) Ridda wars Battle of Buzakha (632) Battle of Aqraba (633) Muslim conquest of Syria Battle of Marj Rahit (634) Siege of Bosra (634) Battle of Ajnadayn (634) Battle of Fahl (634) Siege of Damascus (634–635) Battle of Yarmouk (636) Siege of Emesa (636/37) Siege of Aleppo (637) Battle of the Iron Bridge (637) Battle of Qinnasrin (637/38)

He is famous for his military success, as he commanded the forces of Muhammad and of his immediate successors Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab. He won 28 of his confirmed battles against the numerically superior forces of the Byzantine Roman Empire, Sassanid Persian Empire, and their allies. His greatest strategic achievements were his quick conquest of the Persian Empire and conquest of Roman Syria within three years from 633 to 636. His greatest tactical achievements were his successful double envelopment manoeuver at Walaja and his victories at Ullais and Yarmouk.

Bibliography

• A.I. Akram, The Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns, Rawalpindi: Nat. Publishing House (1970) ISBN 0-7101-0104-X.
• Lecker, Michael (1989). "The Estates of 'Amr b. al-'Āṣ in Palestine: Notes on a New Negev Arabic Inscription". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 52 (1): 24–37. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00023041. ISSN 0041-977X. JSTOR 617911. S2CID 163092638.
• Sirriya, Elizabeth (1979). "Ziyārāt of Syria in a riḥla of 'Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1050/1641–1143/1731)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 111 (2): 109–122. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00135543. ISSN 2051-2066. S2CID 163434595.
• Zein, Ibrahim; El-Wakil, Ahmed (2020-09-01). "Khālid b. al-Wālid's Treaty with the People of Damascus: Identifying the Source Document through Shared and Competing Historical Memories". Journal of Islamic Studies. 31 (3): 295–328. doi:10.1093/jis/etaa029. ISSN 0955-2340.
• Lynch, Ryan LynchRyan (2018-03-22). Khalid b. al-Walid. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
• Shoufani, Elias; Shufani, Ilyas; Shūfānī, Ilyās; Publishing, Arab Institute for Research and (1973). Al-Riddah and the Muslim Conquest of Arabia. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-1915-8.

Other websites

• Map of Khalid bin Al-Waleed's Conquests Archived 2007-01-26 at the Wayback Machine