Author: Zaid
The Biography of the sword of Allah, “Khalid bin Walid” — MAPH — (10th part)
Beginning of Hazrat Khalid’s War Tactics
Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, initially with a small number of Mujahideen, disintegrated the formation of the army of the infidels. On the next day, he organized the Mujahideen in such a way that he prepared small groups from each side and issued the order to attack the enemy. In this scene, where Mujahideen attacked them from all sides, they thought that the number of Muslims must have been added, and that reinforcements had come to help them.
Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, on one hand, temporarily engaged the enemy of two hundred thousand people with small and handful groups, and on the other hand, he was able to easily make the Mujahideen army retreat and save them from the pitiful trap of the infidels and prepare again.
He knew very well that this small army no longer had the patience to fight with a large army. If they were to face each other again, great loss and damage would be inflicted on the Muslims. Therefore, he made a separation between the two armies, pushed the infidel army towards their country, and the Islamic army towards Medina.
With this work, he was able to rub the enemy’s arrogant nose to the ground, to the extent that the enemy turned black, and all their preparations and long journeys were wasted; they were even afraid that this action might be another tactic, and that the Muslims would try to trap them in this way, which was planned by Khalid. Therefore, they were so scared that they gave up chasing the Mujahideen and preferred to escape.
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani, may Allah have mercy on him, writes: “When Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, became the commander, he sent the front of the army to the end and sent the last group to the first, sent the right group to the left and placed the left group to the right. When the army saw the falsehood of this scene, they thought that maybe help had arrived for the Muslims.
Therefore, everyone was terrified and left the square and started to run away. On the other hand, Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, came to Mote square twice with a number of Muslims and took all the property and equipment that the enemy had left behind as booty. They took it and divided it among the Mujahideen. When the army of Islam returned to Medina safe and sound, the Holy Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, along with the Muslims, welcomed them outside the city of Medina and said: “They didn’t run away from the war but changed tactics.”
Allamah Abu Zaid Shalabi, quoting Imam Ibn Burhanuddin, writes: “The salvation of the Muslim army was a clear conquest and victory; because they were surrounded by the enemy and were drowning among them, the number of the enemy’s army was more than two hundred thousand people, while the Muslim army did not exceed three thousand people.
Result
From the story of Mote’s campaign, the martyrdom of the Amirs of Islam, and the command of Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, it is clear that Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, had many perfections and characteristics. He showed self-sacrifice in the fields of jihad, and in order to lose his sweet soul, he was not afraid.
He seized every opportunity that was beneficial for Muslims, and he did not spare any efforts to raise the importance of Islam. Therefore, when the Prophet of Islam, peace be upon him, sees these bravery and victories of Khalid, he gives him the nickname “Sword of Allah” (Sword of Allah) — such a sword that comes out of its scabbard and doesn’t go back into its scabbard; such a sword that breaks dozens and hundreds of other swords, but does not get hurt. As Imam Qays bin Abi Hazim recounts: “On the day of Mote, nine swords in my hand were cut and broken; only one Yemeni sword remained in my hand, with which I continued the war.”
In Addition, whenever a Muslim man observes a sensitive scene and knows that he can do something about it, he should not spare any effort and prefer what is good for the public over his selfish desires and sacrifice himself for the reformation of Muslims and the defense of the pure essence of Islam.
Indeed, every corner of the life of Hazrat Khalid, may Allah be pleased with him, is full of lessons of sacrifice, dedication, vigilance, and wisdom. If we were to write a book about this, we would not be exaggerating; therefore, we ask the Lord of the universe to give us a little bit of the courage and zeal of those elders.
