Khalid Bin Al-Waleed
A biographical study of one of the greatest military generals in history.
By A.I Akram
In the name of Allah (to Whom all praise belongs) the All-Merciful, Companionate.
The book compiled by the late Lieutenant-General A.I. Akram, is a unique account of some of the early conquests which took place in Islam.
The author writes ...”Very little is known in the world today about the military history of Islam. There is not a single work by a trained military mind, written after proper research and thorough examination of the ground... I become conscious of this void in early 1964”. So 5 years after this realization, after travelling to much of the Arab world and having learnt Arabic the author completed this classic in October 1969. The author’s life is amazing for a number of reasons, none more so then the inspiration that I took from the fruits which can be obtained when you plant seeds of personal struggle in gaining knowledge. As an added bonus and acknowledgement of the excellence of the book it has been of few works on Islam that was translated from English into Arabic and is currently sold in bookshops throughout the Arab World.
There is a saying that “You should never judge a book by its cover”, which are the guidelines all readers adhere to, saving them the tragedy of selecting a poor book, however in this particular case it was thrown out of window the day my eyes fell on the book (those of you who buy the book will know what I mean, as it really stands out on a bookshelf!!). After a routine trip to the bookstore, I came home with the book tucked under my arm and it was one of the few books since the spell binding but unfortunate Harry Potter days of old, that I started to read on the day of purchase. It’s often very hard to put into words the relief and satisfaction you get when after turning the first page of a book, you know Alhamdulillah, this is going to be a good one... which was the case for this book.
After reading the book I have say you get a real sense of what a great man Khalid Bin Al Waleed (may Allah be pleased with him) was, in character and tactically as a general and how his conversion to Islam was one of those pinnacle points in our Islamic history along with key figures such as Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them all. With the help of Allah, he helped preserve the Islam that we know today and we should have real gratitude and pride in the Islam of these noble men.
Although the book's topic would on face value fit a brother's criteria of his dream book, none the less I really believe that the sisters who read the book will equally find it compelling, as well as receiving inspiration from the likes of Umm Ammarah who fought in Uhud, and Khaulah, sister of the famous companion Dhiraar Al Azwar, who was involved,a truly inspirational event in the book during the Conquest of Damascus when she fought to free her brother who had been captured by the Romans. There is however one issue that is important to point out as it will cross your mind when reading the book; the author does seem to question some of Umar's (May Allah be pleased with him) judgments in regards to Khalid bin Waleed and highlights disputes between the two. Yes it’s true that the companions may have made mistakes and disagreed but the fact remains that their rank was far above our own, as the hadith narrates “The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter.”[1] so it’s not really befitting for us to question decisions they may or may not have made, so my advice would be not to dwell too much into these issues brought up by the author.
I’ll end it here and hope InshaAllah you don’t pass by the opportunity to read the book and immerse yourself into the life of this man and his struggle for Islam. And as Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) once said...
“Women will no longer be able to give birth to the likes of Khalid bin Al-Waleed”
[1] – Narrated by Abdullah, recorded in the Sahih of Imaam Buhari in the book “companions of the prophet”, hadith number 3.
