1 of 4 · Shawwal 3 AH · March 625 CE · Mount Uhud
Khalid ibn al-Walid رضي الله عنه
The Horseman of Quraysh
Khalid was from the clan of Makhzum and the son of al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, one of the great men of Quraysh. He grew up as a horseman and a strategist, and was among the cavalry commanders of the Quraysh against the Muslims.
At Uhud he led the right wing of the Makkan cavalry. When the Muslim archers on the hill left their post, thinking the battle won, Khalid saw the gap, wheeled round the mountain and fell on the Muslims from behind. It turned a Muslim advantage into a heavy defeat.
The Qur'an speaks of this moment, telling the believers that the setback came after they disobeyed and quarrelled over the command (3:152). The very man who dealt that blow would later be called the Sword of Allah.
Talent follows its owner; what matters is whom it is placed in the service of.
What gift do you have that you are still pointing in the wrong direction?
- Qur'an 3:152
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4043 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-NabawiyyahHistorical report
- Ibn Hajar, al-IsabahHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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