Khalid ibn al-Walid: the cards as text

Stories, Companions. Awaiting scholar review.

1. Card 1

   Islam's most dangerous enemy became its greatest general.

2. Card 2

   Two superpowers, 700 years at war

   Rome and Persia had fought since 53 BC, and their border barely moved.

   Then malaria and the Plague of Justinian emptied their farms. One last 26-year war left both bankrupt.

3. Card 3

   Exhausted empires, a new community

   Just as Rome and Persia ran out of men and money, a new community was taking shape in Arabia.

4. Card 4

   A horseman from the richest clan

   Khalid was born into Banu Makhzum, one of the wealthiest clans of Quraysh. He grew up in the saddle.

5. Card 5

   The charge that beat the Muslims

   Khalid led the Makkan cavalry. When the Muslim archers left their hill, he swept round behind the Muslim army and turned the battle.

6. Card 6

   The enemy rides in

   Khalid rode to Madinah with 'Amr ibn al-'As and accepted Islam. The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said he had always seen a mind in him.

7. Card 7

   His life in ten moments

   1. 625, Uhud. His cavalry charge defeats the Muslims.
   2. 629, Islam. Accepts Islam in Madinah.
   3. 629, Mu'tah. Takes command when three leaders fall, and saves the army.
   4. 630, Makkah. Leads one of the columns that enter Makkah.
   5. 632 to 633, Riddah wars. Breaks the rebel armies, including Musaylimah's at Yamamah. Arabia is united for the first time.
   6. 633, Iraq. Over a dozen battles against Persia in about a year.
   7. 634, The desert march. Crosses a waterless desert to reach Syria.
   8. 636, Yarmuk. Breaks the Roman army in six days.
   9. 638, Removed. 'Umar removes him from command.
   10. 642, Hims. Dies in bed, around 50 years old.
8. Card 8

   Abu Bakr

   The first caliph. Sent Khalid east against Persia, then rushed him to Syria.

9. Card 9

   'Umar ibn al-Khattab

   The second caliph, Khalid's relative and lookalike. The man who would retire Khalid at the height of his fame.

10. Card 10

    Three leaders fall

    Zayd, Ja'far and Ibn Rawahah each fell carrying the banner. It passed to Khalid. Overnight he swapped his wings and raised dust behind the lines. The Romans thought reinforcements had come.

11. Card 11

    One night at Mu'tah

    1. Three leaders fall Zayd, Ja'far and Ibn Rawahah, one after another.
    2. Khalid takes the banner The army hands it to him.
    3. He reshapes the army overnight Wings swapped, fresh men at the front, dust raised behind.
    4. The Romans hold back They think reinforcements have arrived.
    5. The army withdraws intact
12. Card 12

    A sword from the swords of Allah has taken the banner.

13. Card 13

    Men in chains

    The Persian commander chained his soldiers together so none could flee. Khalid killed him in single combat, then charged. Chained men could not reform.

14. Card 14

    Three armies, one at a time

    Three Persian armies were about to join up. Khalid's three columns met at a fixed hour of the night and destroyed each camp before the others could combine.

15. Card 15

    Across a waterless desert

    Ordered to Syria in a hurry, Khalid took the direct route. Camels drank deeply first, and were slaughtered on the way for the water inside them. His army appeared where none could come from.

16. Card 16

    Six days

    The Muslim wings broke twice. The women in the camp drove the men back with tent poles. On the sixth day Khalid's cavalry broke the Roman flank. Heraclius left Syria for good.

17. Card 17

    Removed at his peak

    'Umar took away Khalid's command. 'Umar's own stated reason: people had begun to think victory came from Khalid, and they had to know it came from Allah.

18. Card 18

    Lesson: Khalid served on under Abu 'Ubaydah without complaint. Ego under command.

19. Card 19

    The uncomfortable episode

    Khalid killed men of Banu Jadhimah who had surrendered. The Prophet ﷺ raised his hands: "O Allah, I am free of what Khalid has done," and paid compensation (Bukhari 4339).

20. Card 20

    Why was he removed?

    • The lecture says: Fear of ambition. 'Umar feared Khalid's political ambition.
    • The sources say: Trust in Allah. 'Umar's own reason: people trusted Khalid instead of Allah.
21. Card 21

    The caliph who prayed outside

    'Umar arrived plainly dressed, sharing the camel with his servant. Invited to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he declined, so Muslims would never claim it.

22. Card 22

    There is no part of my body without the scar of a sword, a spear or an arrow. And here I am, dying in my bed like a camel. May the eyes of cowards never sleep.

23. Card 23

    Reflect: Why did 'Umar say he removed Khalid from command?

    Answer: People thought victory came from Khalid. People had begun to think victory came from Khalid. 'Umar wanted them to know it came from Allah.

24. Card 24

    The end of Khalid ibn al-Walid.

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