Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 151
fought. First Zaid ra , then Ja‘far ra and then ‘Abdullah bin
Rawaha ra held the standard. All three fell, one after the
other, fighting bravely. Pray for them all. After them the
standard was held by Khalid bin Walid ra . He appointed
himself. He is a sword among the swords of God. So he
saved the Muslim army and returned (Zad al-Ma‘ad, Vol.
1, and Zurqani ).
The Prophet's sa description of Khalid ra became
popular. Khalid ra came to be known as ‘the sword of
God'.
Being one of the later converts, Khalid ra was often
taunted by other Muslims. Once he and ‘Abdur Rahman
bin ‘Auf ra quarrelled over something. ‘Abdur Rahman
bin ‘Auf ra reported against Khalid ra to the Prophet sa . The
Prophet sa chid Khalid ra and said, "Khalid ra , you annoy
one who has been serving Islam from the time of Badr. I
say to you that even if you give away gold of the weight
of Uhud in the service of Islam, you will not become as
deserving of divine reward as "‘Abdur Rahman ra
"But they taunt me," said Khalid ra , "and I have to
reply."
Upon this the Prophet sa turned to others and said,
"You must not taunt Khalid ra . He is a sword among the
swords of God which remains drawn against
disbelievers."
The Prophet's sa description came to literal fulfilment
a few years later.
On Khalid's ra return with the Muslim army, some
Muslims of Medina described the returning soldiers as
defeatist and lacking in spirit. The general criticism was
that they should all have died fighting. The Prophet sa
chid the critics. Khalid ra and his soldiers were not
defeatist or lacking in spirit, he said. They were soldiers
who returned again and again to attack. The words
meant more than appeared on the surface. They foretold
battles which Muslims were to fight with Syria.