The person I look up to is one of the bravest men in history after the prophet (PBUH). He was a person known among the people as a lion. This man was a person who fought in over 100 skirmishes and 50 of them were major wars. He was the most famous war commander in the history of Islam

after the Prophet (PBUH).

The reason I look up to him is that he was both a war hero and a very strong believer in Islam. Khaled ibn al Waleed (RA) was the son of a very well-known man and had a high position within the people of Quraish and was known as Al Waleed ibn Mughirah. This man was a poet and used his words against our beloved Prophet (PBUH), showing how much of a disbeliever he was. Khalid Ibn Al Waleed (RA) also opposed the Prophet and spoke against him during the days of ignorance. During the wars, he was also the main commander of the disbeliever’s army. Due to his very knowledgeable mind in war, he was the main reason the Quraish won the battle of Uhud. He was also the person who was sent with an army to stop the prophet when the Treaty of Hudaybiyya was made.

During the seventh year of Hijrah, is when Khaled ibn Al Waleed (RAH) really thought about converting to Islam and becoming a Muslim. When he met Amr ibn Aws (RAH) and he had the same idea they both set off in the middle of the night. When they had both became Muslims, they started to read the Quran. When it came to the part where it talks about the disbelievers, he really struggled to read it as he would remember his father, who was a disbeliever. This shows how much of a strong believer he was as he put his religion over the people and the things that were very dear to him, which we as young people struggle to do.

Merely after a month of his conversion to Islam, he was told to go to the battle and participate in the battle of Mut’ah. After all three commanders were killed, the people agreed that he was the person best for the role of commanding the army. It was in this battle where he portrayed his bravery on the battlefield. It is narrated that Khalid (RA) said, “9 swords broke in my hand and I fought until I only had a Yemeni shield”. This goes to show his bravery on the battlefield and that he would do anything for his religion, even if it meant he had to sacrifice his own life. Also, this is when he was given the name ‘Saifullah’ which means ‘The Sword of God’. After the Prophet (PBUH)’s death, there was an occurrence where people claimed to be false prophets and tried to take over, but Khaled ibn al Waleed (RA)’s army destroyed and crushed them all one by one. After that, the Muslims began to conquer the countries. They conquered Persia, Byzantine, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Jordan, and Syria. History has never seen a man like this, he was an undefeated warrior and commander. His tactics on the battlefield were better than any other commander that had lived after the prophet (PBUH).

The last 4 years of Khaled ibn al Waleed (RA)’s life was a big test for him as he could not go into the battlefield. He could not participate in the battles, but he did not waste his time. He would spend most of his time reading the Quran. It is narrated that he would read the Quran from the beginning of the Fajr prayer, all the way to Duhr. When he was asked why he said that fighting for the sake of Allah had stopped him from learning the Quran and would cry out of the fear of Allah (SWT). This goes to show that he was very powerful in his religion. He was praying to Allah when he was not on the battlefield fighting for the sake of bringing this religion to us. People said that whenever they would go and visit him there was not a part on his hand without a wound on it. Again, this is showing us the numerous battles he fought in and how brave he was in the battles.

I learnt that, even though he spent so much of his life opposing and going against Islam, whatever time he got with our Prophet (PBUH), he would always cherish that. He spent the rest of his life fighting for his religion and appreciating it. We should always be grateful for being born into a Muslim family because, sometimes, we do not understand how blessed we are, and we should always thank Allah for this blessing and ask him to guide us on the right path.

Hanan Hamzath