Al-Wāqidī said: He embraced Islam on the first day of Ṣafar in the year 8 AH. He was present at the battle of Muʿtah, where command devolved upon him even though he had not formally been appointed. That day he fought with a ferocity the like of which had never been seen: nine swords were shattered in his hand, and only a Yemeni blade remained unbroken.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Zayd took the banner and was struck down; then Jaʿfar took it and was struck down; then ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah took it and was struck down; then a sword from the swords of Allah took it, and Allah granted victory through him.” (1)

It is related that Khalid’s qalanṣuwah (skull-cap) fell from his head on the day of Yarmuk while he was still in the thick of the fighting. He pressed hard to retrieve it and was reproached for doing so. He replied, “Inside it are a few hairs from the forelock of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and never have I faced an enemy with it in my possession except that I was granted victory.” (2)

We have transmitted in the Musnad of Ahmad (3), through the chain of al-Walīd ibn Muslim, from Wahshi ibn Ḥarb, from his father, from his grandfather Wahshi ibn Ḥarb, from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, that when Abū Bakr put Khalid in charge of the war against the apostates he said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘What an excellent servant of Allah and clansman is Khalid ibn al-Walid; Khalid ibn al-Walid is a sword from the swords of Allah, unsheathed by Allah against the unbelievers and the hypocrites.’”

Ahmad likewise said (4): Ḥusayn al-Juʿfī narrated to us, from Zāʾidah, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, who said: “ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb appointed Abū ʿUbaydah over Syria and relieved Khalid ibn al-Walid. Khalid said, ‘He has sent to you the trustworthy one of this Ummah; I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “The trustworthy one of this Ummah is Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ.”’ Abū ʿUbaydah replied, ‘And I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Khalid is a sword from the swords of Allah—what an excellent young man of his clan.”’”

Ibn ʿAsākir has also cited this report (5) on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā and Abū Hurayrah, together with other mursal chains that lend strength to one another.

In the Ṣaḥīḥ (6) it is recorded: “As for Khalid, you are wronging Khalid, for he has pledged his coats of mail and his servants in the path of Allah.”

He was present at the Conquest of Mecca, at Ḥunayn, and he led the expedition against Banū Jadhīmah during the Prophet’s lifetime, peace and blessings be upon him. Scholars differ as to whether he attended Khaybar. He entered Mecca as commander of a detachment of the army and killed a great many of Quraysh, as we have detailed earlier—praise and bounty belong to Allah. Later the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched him to al-ʿUzzā—which belonged to Hawāzin—so he first struck down its uppermost part and then