Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Khalid Ibn al-Walid: The Sword of God

Episode Date: July 7, 2021

In the 7th century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history: Islam. Springing forth from the Arabian Peninsula, within a matter of months, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on Earth. Much of that growth was due to one man. He wasn’t a religious leader, and he wasn’t the head of the empire. He was one of the greatest military leaders in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the seventh century, the world saw the rise of one of the most important religious and political forces in history. Islam. Springing forth from the Arab Peninsula, within a matter of years, the Islamic Caliphate had become one of the largest empires on earth. Much of that growth was due to one man. He wasn't a religious leader and he wasn't the head of the empire. He was one of the greatest military leaders in history. Learn more about Khalid Ibn El-Walid, the Sword of Allah, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day and tonight. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by audible.com. My audiobook recommendation today is In God's Path. the Arab conquests and the creation of an Islamic empire by Robert G. Hoyland. In just over 100 years, from the death of Muhammad to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate,

the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as Western Europe and China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time. How this collection of Arab tribes was able to engulf so many empires states and armies in such a short period of time, has perplex historians for centuries. Robert Hoyland's groundbreaking new history assimilates not only the rich biographical information of the early Muslim sources, but also the many non-Arabic sources, contemporaneous or near contemporaneous,

with the conquests. You can get a free one-month trial to Audible and two free audiobooks by going to audibletrial.com slash everything everywhere, or by clicking on the link in the show notes. Khalid was born Khalid Ibn El Makhira al-Makshumi in the town of Mecca and what is today Saudi Arabia. There isn't a lot we know about his early life other than where he was born in his family. He was probably born sometime around the year 585. He was born in the Banu Makzum clan, which was one of the elite clans in the Karais tribe. His father was the local equivalent of a judge and ruled on matters that were brought to him. His grandfather introduced foreign trade to Mecca, bringing goods from Yemen and Ethiopia. And his uncle was the Lord of Mecca, and the Maqzum was considered

a noble and wealthy clan. When the Prophet Muhammad began preaching and spreading his new religion in the early 7th century, the Magzum were the primary opponents of Muhammad. Muhammad was also in the Qaraysh tribe, but in the Hashim clan. The Maqzum saw Muhammad and his new religion as a threat to their power and control over Mecca and the greater Hajaz, which today is the western part of Saudi Arabia bordering the Red Sea. The Maqzum led the court. against Muhammad and his followers. There were several military confrontations between the Quraysh and the followers of Muhammad, and for the most part, the Muslims won all of them, save for the Battle of Uhood in the year 625. At the Battle of Uhood, one of the Qarish leaders was Khalid, who brought

his units to the rear of Muhammad's forces, resulting in a route. This was the first battle which he led, and, shockingly enough, it was against Muhammad. Nonetheless, he won. After that, the Khoraysh and the Muslim signed the Treaty of Houdabia, which created a peace between Mecca and Mohammed's forces in Medina, and also allowed Muhammad's followers to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. In the year 629, Khalid converted to Islam and moved to Medina. There, he put all his energy into Islam and the creation of a Muslim state. You can sort of make an analogy between Khalid and St. Paul. Both of them persecuted members of the religion to which they eventually converted, and both of them

were instrumental in the growth of that religion. But I don't want to make too much about the comparison, however, because beyond those two facts, their lives, and how they went about spreading their religions were very, very different. In 629, Khalid took part in the conquest of Mecca, which resulted in most of the citizens of the city converting to Islam. He also saved an ill-fated Islamic expedition that had traveled north to what is today the country of Jordan. There are the Muslims clashed with the largest power in the region for the very first time, the Romans, aka the Byzantine Empire. He made a. He made a. He made, managed to get the Romans to retreat through the use of subterfuge and deception, to make it

seem as if the Muslim forces were larger than they actually were. When he returned to Mecca, he was given the title, Safe Allah, by Muhammad, which means the sword of God. He was then given responsibility for converting other towns in the vicinity of Mecca and the Hajaz. He was highly successful, if at times a bit overzealous. In one case, he executed the leaders of one tribe, even though they had already converted. When the Prophet Muhammad died in 632, many of the clans in towns and towns,

which had pledged allegiance to Muhammad, broke their allegiances, and ceased paying tribute. Khalid was given command of an army by the new leader of Mecca, Abu Bakar, and was sent to bring the wayward tribes back into the fold. Known as the Rida Wars, Khalid spent the next year moving through the Central Arabian Peninsula. Everywhere he went, he was victorious. Within the span of a little over a year, he brought the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula under the control of Mecca. Gathering troops, he then took an unauthorized detour into modern Iraq, and marched up the Euphrates River. He met the Persians in what is today Kuwait and defeated them.

He marched his troops up the western bank of the Euphrates River conquering and converting towns along the way. He eventually met a combined Roman and Persian army of 60,000 men near the town of Faraz. Despite being vastly outnumbered, he managed to flank the Romans at a river crossing and surrounded them in a pincer movement. Their defeat ensured Muslim control of Mesopotamia.

In 634, he was then ordered by Abu Bakar to send relief to a Muslim force that had become bogged down in Syria. He famously led 800 men into the desert to get to Syria. There was one stretch where they had to cross a desert which was six days between watering holes. His men didn't have enough storage for that much water, so he took extra camels, which he slaughtered every day to access the stored water in their humps. This desert crossing is probably the most famous story of Khalid Ibn al-Walid in Islamic literature. Syria at the time was firmly in control of the Byzantines. He won several smaller engagements with smaller towns, and then in August of 6.35, he laid siege to and conquered the city of Damascus.

According to legend, he received intelligence about the city celebrating the birthday of the emperor's son, and used that to attack the weakest gate in the city while everyone inside was occupied. This was all a lead-up to what would become the most significant battle in the career of Khalid, and one of the most important battles in world history, the Battle of Yarmuk in 636. If you haven't heard of the Battle of Yarmuk, you probably should. I'm definitely going to devote a full episode to it in the future. This was the showdown that pitted the Byzantines against the Arabs, and more importantly, Christians against Muslims.

It was a clash of civilizations that would have ramifications that would echo for centuries. The battle took place near what is today where the Syrian, Jordanian, and Israeli borders all meet, southeast of the Sea of Galilee, near the Yarmuk River. The combined Muslim forces were around, 25 to 40,000 men. According to contemporary sources at the time, the Byzantines with their Persian allies had about 140,000 men, although some modern historians only put the number at about 40,000. Either way, Khalid and his men were outnumbered. Over a period of six days, Khalid defeated the larger Byzantine force through a series of brilliant tactical decisions,

whereas the Byzantines tried to succeed with their large numbers and using traditional military doctrine. He used the speed of his mounted forces to compensate for his lack of numbers and never allowed the enemy to amass their large force. Several years earlier in 632, Abu Bakar died and Omar became the new caliphate. After the Battle of Yarmuk in 638, Omar dismissed Khalid as the Supreme Military Commander. There isn't a consensus among historians as to why he did this, but there are several reasons which are offered. He was concerned about how Khalid would often disregard orders and act independently. There were issues. of his past regarding morality, and probably most importantly, Khalid was extremely popular,

especially amongst the soldiers. Khalid was the biggest potential threat to Omar, so he relieved him, but did so in a way that allowed him to keep most of his military honors and dignity. Khalid died in 642, but the details surrounding his death are vague. He died either in Medina or in Ham's Syria. Homs is the place that claims to have his tomb, and it's been the site of a large mosque since at least the 12th century. The legacy of Khalid Ibn El-Walid has only grown over time.

He is widely considered to be the greatest Muslim general in history. His techniques were later used by Islamic armies after him to expand throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa. It is believed that Khalid was the commander in 100 battles and never lost a single one. 100-0, undefeated. This makes Khalid Ibn El-Walid, not just one of the most successful generals in Islamic history, but in world history. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson.

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