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( Khalid ibn al-Walid)
Conquest of Arabia
Uhud&_160;– Mu'tah&_160;– Mecca&_160;– Hunayn&_160;– Ta'if Khalid ibn Walid was from the Meccan tribe of Quraish, who opposed Muhammad, and he played a vital role in their victory at the Battle of Uhud. He accepted Islam, however, and joined Muhammad after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and commanded various expeditions for him, such as the Battle of Mu'tah. After Muhammad's death, he played a key role in commanding Medinan forces for Abu Bakr in the Ridda wars, the capture of the Sassanid Arab client Kingdom of Al-Hirah, and the defeat of the Sassanid Persian forces during his conquest of the Persian Empire. He then crossed the desert to capture the Byzantine Arab client state of the Ghassanids during his conquest of Roman Syria. Even though Umar later relieved him of high command, he remained the effective leader of the forces arrayed against the Byzantines during the early stages of the Byzantine-Arab Wars.[1] Under his command, Damascus was captured in 635 and the key Arab victory against the Roman Byzantine forces was achieved at the Battle of Yarmuk (636),[1] which led to the conquest of the Bilad al-Sham (Levant). Khalid ibn Walid was born around c. 590 in Mecca to Walid ibn al-Mughira, the chief of the Banu Makhzum clan of the Quraish. He was also known in Makkah by the title of Al-Waheed- the Unique. Banu Makhzum were specialized in warfare.[2]According to the tradition of Quraish, Khalid, soon after his birth he was taken away from his mother and was sent to a Bedouin tribe in the desert, where a foster mother was found for him who would nurse him and bring him up in the clear, dry and unpolluted air of the desert. Some time in his childhood he had a mild attack of smallpox that left few pock marks on his face. At the age of five or six, he returned to his parents in Mecca. Khalid's upbringing was now undertaken by his father who did his best to instil into Khalid all the virtues of Arab manhood-courage, fighting skill, toughness and generosity. As a Makhzumi, who were among the best horsemen in Arabia, Khalid learned to ride and use weapons like the spear, the lance, the bow, and the sword as a child. Khalid personally preferred the use of the sword, and as an adult he was over six feet tall and was admired as a renowned warrior and wrestler among the Quraish. [3]
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