The Story of Khālid ibn al-Walīd’s Conversion to Islam

Al-Wāqidī said (1): Yahyā ibn al-Mughīrah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Hishām related to me, saying, “I heard my father narrate from Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who said:

‘When Allah wished for me the good He had decreed, He cast Islam into my heart and sound judgment returned to me. I said to myself, “I have been present at every battlefield against Muḥammad ﷺ; at none of them did I leave without feeling that I was fighting in vain and that Muḥammad would ultimately prevail.”

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ marched to al-Ḥudaybiyah, I rode out with a detachment of the idolaters. We encountered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions at ʿUsfān. I stationed my horse opposite him and sought to provoke him. He led his Companions in the Ẓuhr prayer in front of us. We thought to fall upon them, yet no firm resolve came to us—there was a protective wisdom in that. Sensing what we had in mind, he performed the ʿAṣr prayer with his Companions as the Prayer of Fear, which made a deep impression on us. I said, “This man is under divine protection.” He kept away from us, left the path our cavalry was taking, and turned off to the right.

When he concluded the truce with Quraysh at al-Ḥudaybiyah and Quraysh had fended him off with little more than the palm of the hand, I said to myself, “What is left? Where can I go? To the Negus? Muḥammad has already won him over, and his Companions are safe with him. Shall I go to Heraclius and abandon my religion for Christianity or Judaism, living among foreigners as a subject? Or shall I remain in my house with what is left of our people?”

While I was pondering this, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Mecca for the ‘Compensatory ʿUmrah.’ I kept out of sight and did not witness his entry. My brother al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd had come with the Prophet ﷺ during that ʿUmrah. He looked for me but did not find me, so he wrote me a letter that read:

“In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. To proceed: I have seen nothing more astonishing than the way a man of your intelligence has turned away from Islam! How can anyone remain ignorant of Islam? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked me about you, saying, ‘Where is Khālid?’ I replied, ‘Allah will bring him.’ He said, ‘Someone like him should not be ignorant of Islam. If he were to direct his prowess and sharp sword against the enemy alongside the Muslims, it would be better for him, and we would give him precedence over others.’ So, my brother, make up for what you have missed, for you have already missed many worthy occasions.”

‘When his letter reached me, I became eager to depart; my desire for Islam increased, and I was elated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had asked about me. In a dream I saw myself in a barren, constricted land, then leaving it for a spacious, verdant land. I said, “This is surely a vision.”

When I reached Medina I told Abū Bakr about it. He said, “That constricted land was the shirk you were in, and your coming out of it is the guidance by which Allah led you to Islam.”

‘Having resolved to go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I wondered, “Whom shall I accompany on the journey?” I met Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah and said, “Abā Wahb, do you not see the state we are in? We are like isolated molars—Muḥammad has conquered both Arabs and non-Arabs. If we were to go to Muḥammad and follow him, Muḥammad’s honor would be our honor.” He refused with the most vehement refusal, saying, “Even if no one but I remained, I would never follow him—ever.”’