{
 "id": "person/khalid-ibn-al-walid",
 "class": "person",
 "slug": "khalid-ibn-al-walid",
 "label": {
  "en": "Khalid ibn al-Walid",
  "ar": "خالد بن الوليد"
 },
 "summary": {
  "en": "The great commander on both sides of the early wars: the cavalry leader who turned the day at Uhud for the Meccans, then converted in 629 and led the Muslim armies at Mu'ta, in the Ridda wars and at the Yarmuk.",
  "ar": "القائد العسكري الأبرز في جانبي الحروب الأولى: قائد خيل مكة الذي حوّل يوم أُحد، ثم أسلم سنة 629م فقاد جيوش المسلمين في مؤتة وحروب الردة واليرموك."
 },
 "stub": false,
 "wings": [
  "people"
 ],
 "regions": [
  "arabia",
  "levant-iraq"
 ],
 "periods": [
  "period/prophetic-era",
  "period/rashidun"
 ],
 "tags": [],
 "aliases": [],
 "themes": [
  "wars-and-campaigns",
  "battles",
  "converts-and-leavers"
 ],
 "span": {
  "earliest": 585.0023614447935,
  "latest": 642.9994455737994
 },
 "display": {
  "start": {
   "edtf": "0585~",
   "calendar": "julian",
   "precision": "year",
   "status": "tradition",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  "end": {
   "edtf": "0642",
   "calendar": "julian",
   "precision": "year",
   "status": "debated",
   "note": "Died in 21 AH (642 CE); sources differ between Homs and Medina as the place.",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  }
 },
 "data": {
  "names": [
   {
    "kind": "full",
    "lang": "ar",
    "value": "خالد بن الوليد بن المغيرة المخزومي"
   },
   {
    "kind": "laqab",
    "lang": "ar-Latn",
    "value": "Sayf Allah (the Sword of God)"
   }
  ],
  "gender": "male",
  "born": {
   "edtf": "0585~",
   "calendar": "julian",
   "precision": "year",
   "status": "tradition",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  "died": {
   "edtf": "0642",
   "calendar": "julian",
   "precision": "year",
   "status": "debated",
   "note": "Died in 21 AH (642 CE); sources differ between Homs and Medina as the place.",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  "roles": [
   "companion",
   "general"
  ],
  "traditions": [
   "sunni"
  ],
  "story_roles": [
   {
    "role": "military-opponent",
    "toward": "group/early-muslims",
    "start": {
     "edtf": "0625"
    },
    "end": {
     "edtf": "0629"
    },
    "status": "historical",
    "note": "Commanded the Meccan cavalry at Uhud (625) and led the horsemen who blocked the Muslims before Hudaybiyya.",
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume",
     "source/watt-1956-medina"
    ]
   },
   {
    "role": "convert",
    "start": {
     "edtf": "0629"
    },
    "status": "historical",
    "note": "Embraced Islam shortly before the conquest of Mecca.",
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley",
     "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume"
    ]
   },
   {
    "role": "companion",
    "start": {
     "edtf": "0629"
    },
    "status": "historical",
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
    ]
   },
   {
    "role": "changed-sides",
    "start": {
     "edtf": "0629"
    },
    "status": "historical",
    "note": "From commander of the Meccan cavalry to commander of the Muslim armies.",
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
    ]
   },
   {
    "role": "commander",
    "toward": "polity/rashidun-caliphate",
    "start": {
     "edtf": "0629"
    },
    "end": {
     "edtf": "0638"
    },
    "status": "historical",
    "note": "Commanded at Mu'ta, in the Ridda wars and in Syria; dismissed by Umar about 638.",
    "sources": [
     "source/tabari-donner-1993",
     "source/watt-1956-medina"
    ]
   }
  ],
  "faith": [
   {
    "value": "sunni",
    "basis": "documented",
    "note": "Embraced Islam in 629 CE after years of fighting on the Meccan side; recorded under the museum's Sunni frame (docs/scope.md)."
   }
  ],
  "labelled": [
   {
    "label": {
     "en": "Sayf Allah al-Maslul (the Unsheathed Sword of God)",
     "ar": "سيف الله المسلول"
    },
    "by": "a saying attributed to the Prophet in the tradition",
    "status": "tradition",
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
    ]
   }
  ],
  "perspectives": [
   {
    "tradition": "sunni",
    "summary": {
     "en": "Sunni tradition remembers Khalid as Sayf Allah, the undefeated commander whose genius served the early community — while also recording that the Prophet and Umar rebuked him over the affair of Malik ibn Nuwayra."
    },
    "sources": [
     "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley",
     "source/tabari-donner-1993"
    ]
   },
   {
    "tradition": "academic",
    "summary": {
     "en": "Historians regard him as one of the most capable commanders of the early conquests, and treat the Malik ibn Nuwayra episode — a tribal leader killed and his wife taken — as a documented controversy."
    },
    "sources": [
     "source/tabari-donner-1993"
    ]
   },
   {
    "tradition": "shia-twelver",
    "summary": {
     "en": "Twelver Shia tradition is broadly critical of Khalid, emphasizing the Malik ibn Nuwayra affair and his earlier role against the Muslims."
    },
    "sources": [
     "source/momen-1985"
    ]
   }
  ],
  "sensitivity": "contested",
  "sources": [
   "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley",
   "source/tabari-donner-1993",
   "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume",
   "source/watt-1956-medina"
  ],
  "status": {
   "review": "draft",
   "completeness": 3,
   "generated_by": "Devin; 2026-10-11"
  }
 },
 "prose": {
  "ar": {
   "sections": [
    {
     "heading": "نبذة",
     "markdown": "خالد بن الوليد أخوف قائد خيل في الجزيرة — أولًا لمكة ضد المسلمين، ثم للإسلام ضد إمبراطوريتين. قليلون في المعرض من قاتل في جوانب القصة كلها مثله."
    },
    {
     "heading": "الحياة",
     "markdown": "ابن [[person/al-walid-ibn-al-mughira|الوليد بن المغيرة]] من [[group/banu-makhzum|بني مخزوم]]، قاد خيل مكة في [[event/battle-of-uhud|أُحد]] — وكان ارتداده بالخيل ما رجّح يومئذٍ على المسلمين سنة 625م {cite:ibn-ishaq-guillaume}. وفي سنة 629م ركب إلى المدينة فأسلم؛ وفي شهور أمرّه النبي، ففي [[event/battle-of-mutah|مؤتة]] استنقذ الجيش بعد مصرع قادته الثلاثة {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n\nوفي عهد الخلفاء قاد في [[event/battle-of-yamama|اليمامة]] في حروب الردة وفي [[event/battle-of-yarmuk|اليرموك]] ضد الروم {cite:tabari-donner-1993}. وتحفظ المصادر في حروب الردة قضية مالك بن نويرة الذي قتلته سراياه — الحادثة التي يُروى أن النبي نفسه برأ خالدًا من عجلته {cite:tabari-donner-1993}. وعزله عمر نحو سنة 638م، ومات سنة 642م بحمص أو المدينة {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n\n:::perspectives\n- **أهل السنة**: تذكره السنة سيفَ الله، القائد الذي لم يُهزم وخدمت عبقريته الجماعة — مع حفظ عتب النبي وعمر عليه في قضية مالك بن نويرة {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n- **أكاديمي**: يعدّه المؤرخون من أقدر قادة الفتوح الأولى، ويعاملون قضية مالك بن نويرة خلافًا موثقًا {cite:tabari-donner-1993}.\n- **الشيعة الاثنا عشرية**: ينتقده التراث الإمامي إجمالًا مبرزًا قضية مالك بن نويرة ودوره السابق ضد المسلمين {cite:momen-1985}.\n:::"
    },
    {
     "heading": "الأثر",
     "markdown": "ما زالت كتب الحرب تدرّس حملاته؛ وما زالت ذاكرة المسلمين تجادل هل تعفي العبقرية عن شيء. أراد الموت ميدانًا فمات على فراش — ورووا أنه عدّ ذلك ظلمًا."
    },
    {
     "heading": "للزوار الصغار",
     "markdown": "كان خالد أبرع قادة زمانه — وقاتل في الجانبين. وما زال الناس يتجادلون هل كان بطلًا أم تجاوز الحد."
    }
   ],
   "frontmatter": {
    "id": "person/khalid-ibn-al-walid",
    "lang": "ar",
    "source_lang": "en",
    "translators": []
   }
  },
  "en": {
   "sections": [
    {
     "heading": "Brief",
     "markdown": "Khalid ibn al-Walid was the most feared cavalry commander in Arabia — first for Mecca against the Muslims, then for Islam against two empires. Few figures in the museum fought on more sides of the story."
    },
    {
     "heading": "Life",
     "markdown": "A son of [[person/al-walid-ibn-al-mughira|al-Walid ibn al-Mughira]] of [[group/banu-makhzum|Banu Makhzum]], Khalid commanded the Meccan cavalry at [[event/battle-of-uhud|Uhud]] — his flank attack turned the battle against the Muslims in 625 {cite:ibn-ishaq-guillaume}. In 629 he rode to Medina and embraced Islam; within months the Prophet gave him command, and at [[event/battle-of-mutah|Mu'ta]] he extricated the army after its three named commanders fell {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n\nUnder the caliphs he led the army at [[event/battle-of-yamama|Yamama]] in the Ridda wars and at [[event/battle-of-yarmuk|the Yarmuk]] against Byzantium {cite:tabari-donner-1993}. In the Ridda wars the sources record the disputed affair of Malik ibn Nuwayra, a tribal leader killed by his troops — an episode for which the Prophet himself is said to have disavowed Khalid's haste {cite:tabari-donner-1993}. Umar dismissed him about 638; he died in 642 CE, in Homs or Medina {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n\n:::perspectives\n- **Sunni**: Sunni tradition remembers Khalid as Sayf Allah, the undefeated commander whose genius served the community — while also recording the Prophet's and Umar's rebukes over Malik ibn Nuwayra {cite:ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley}.\n- **Academic**: Historians regard him as among the most capable commanders of the early conquests, and treat the Malik ibn Nuwayra episode as a documented controversy {cite:tabari-donner-1993}.\n- **Twelver Shia**: Twelver Shia tradition is broadly critical of Khalid, emphasizing Malik ibn Nuwayra and his earlier role against the Muslims {cite:momen-1985}.\n:::"
    },
    {
     "heading": "Legacy",
     "markdown": "Military histories still teach his campaigns; Muslim memory still argues about whether genius excuses anything. He wanted to die in battle and died in bed — and reportedly found that unjust."
    },
    {
     "heading": "For young visitors",
     "markdown": "Khalid was the best general of his age — and he fought on both sides. People still debate whether he was a hero or whether he went too far."
    }
   ],
   "frontmatter": {
    "id": "person/khalid-ibn-al-walid",
    "lang": "en",
    "source_lang": "en",
    "translators": []
   }
  }
 },
 "degree": 50,
 "contemporaries": [
  "person/abbas-ibn-abd-al-muttalib",
  "person/abdullah-ibn-salam",
  "person/abu-sufyan-ibn-harb",
  "person/amr-ibn-al-as",
  "person/halima-al-sadiyya",
  "person/salman-al-farisi",
  "person/umar-ibn-al-khattab",
  "person/umm-ayman",
  "person/uthman-ibn-affan",
  "person/heraclius",
  "person/bilal-ibn-rabah",
  "person/hind-bint-utba"
 ],
 "connections": [
  {
   "to": "place/mecca",
   "type": "born_in",
   "inverse": false
  },
  {
   "to": "place/homs",
   "type": "died_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "note": "Sources differ between Homs and Medina.",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "person/al-walid-ibn-al-mughira",
   "type": "child_of",
   "inverse": false
  },
  {
   "to": "group/banu-makhzum",
   "type": "member_of",
   "inverse": false
  },
  {
   "to": "group/quraysh",
   "type": "member_of",
   "inverse": false
  },
  {
   "to": "group/early-muslims",
   "type": "fought",
   "inverse": false,
   "start": {
    "edtf": "0625"
   },
   "end": {
    "edtf": "0629"
   },
   "note": "As Meccan cavalry commander at Uhud and before Hudaybiyya.",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/battle-of-uhud",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "meccan-cavalry-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/treaty-of-hudaybiyya",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "meccan-cavalry-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "person/muhammad",
   "type": "converted_under",
   "inverse": false,
   "start": {
    "edtf": "0629"
   },
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/battle-of-mutah",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "third-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-ishaq-guillaume"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/conquest-of-mecca",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/battle-of-hunayn",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-sad-tabaqat-bewley"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/battle-of-yamama",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "muslim-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/tabari-donner-1993"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/battle-of-yarmuk",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "muslim-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/tabari-donner-1993"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "person/malik-ibn-nuwayra",
   "type": "persecuted",
   "inverse": false,
   "note": "The affair of Malik ibn Nuwayra — killed by Khalid's troops in the Ridda wars — is contested in the sources.",
   "sources": [
    "source/tabari-donner-1993"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "person/musaylima",
   "type": "fought_by",
   "inverse": true,
   "start": {
    "edtf": "0632"
   },
   "end": {
    "edtf": "0632"
   },
   "sources": [
    "source/tabari-donner-1993"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "person/tulayha-ibn-khuwaylid",
   "type": "fought_by",
   "inverse": true,
   "start": {
    "edtf": "0632"
   },
   "end": {
    "edtf": "0632"
   },
   "sources": [
    "source/tabari-donner-1993"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/demolition-of-al-uzza-and-idols",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "قائد سرية هدم العزى بنخلة",
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq",
    "source/zad-al-maad"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/khalid-expedition-to-ukaydir",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-hisham-saqqa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/khandama-skirmish",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "muslim-column-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-hisham-saqqa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/mutah-khalid-command-withdrawal",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "emergency-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-hisham-saqqa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/mutah-return-to-medina",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "returning-commander",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-hisham-saqqa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/siege-of-taif",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "vanguard-commander-of-a-thousand",
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/treaty-of-ukaydir",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "bearer",
   "sources": [
    "source/ibn-hisham-saqqa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "to": "event/uhud-khalid-flanking",
   "type": "participated_in",
   "inverse": false,
   "role": "نفّذ الالتفاف الحاسم على مؤخرة الجيش الإسلامي",
   "sources": [
    "source/mubarakpuri-raheeq"
   ]
  }
 ],
 "related": [
  "person/muhammad",
  "place/mecca",
  "event/conquest-of-mecca",
  "group/quraysh",
  "person/abu-sufyan-ibn-harb",
  "person/umar-ibn-al-khattab",
  "period/prophetic-era",
  "person/amr-ibn-al-as"
 ],
 "license": {
  "prose": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
  "data": "CC0 1.0"
 }
}