Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque (Homs City)

 mosque, interesting place

The Khaled ibn al-Walid Mosque is a mosque in Hims, Syria, located in a park along Hama Street in ash-Shuhada Square. It is of recent construction compared to the city's major mosques, built by the Ottomans around 1908. Other sources claim it was originally built by the Mamluk sultan Baibars in the late 13th century and that it was renovated by the Ottomans.

The interior of the structure is mostly composed of a large prayer hall and the central dome is supported by four massive columns. In the corner of the interior is the mausoleum of Muslim general Khaled ibn al-Walid who led the Muslim conquest of Syria and after which the mosque is named.


His greatest strategic achievements were his swift conquest of the Persian Empire and conquest of Roman Syria within three years from 633 to 636, while his greatest tactical achievements were his successful double envelopment maneuver at Walaja and his decisive victories at Firaz, Ullais and Yarmouk.



Conquest of Eastern Roman Empire
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine-Arab_Wars


June 634
Passing through the Syrian Desert, Khalid with his half of the army of 9,000 warriors entered Syria in June 634 and commanded the 23,000 strong Muslim army present there under the command of four generals, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan, Sharjeel bin Hosanna and 'Amr ibn al-'As.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ubaidah_ibn_al-Jarrah
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazid_ibn_Abu_Sufyan
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Amr_ibn_al-%27As



mid of July 634
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bassorah


The Muslims soon heard of the gathering of a Roman army at Ajnadayn said to be 90,000 strong, after which all the divisions of the Muslim army joined Khalid at Ajnadayn on 24 July 634, and the Muslim army became 32,000 in number.
Khalid defeated the Romans on 30 July 634 at the Battle of Ajnadayn.


and the Muslim army became 32,000 in number.
Khalid defeated the Romans on 30 July 634 at the Battle of Ajnadayn.



24 July 634
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ajnadayn


Battle of Yakosa in mid-August 634.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclius

battle of Maraj-al-Safar on 19 August 634

18 September 634 after Conquest of Damascus
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_Damascus



Dismissal of Khalid from command
On 22 August 634, Abu Bakr died,

Battle of Abu-al-Quds on 15 October 634 CE
Battle of Fahal on the 23rd of January 635 CE.

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June 636 CE
July 636 CE

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yarmouk

Nothing happened until the third week of August in which the Battle of Yarmouk was fought.

The battle lasted 6 days during which Abu-Ubaida transferred the command of the entire army to Khalid. The Byzantine army was defeated on October 636 CE.

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Capturing Jerusalem
The siege of Jerusalem lasted four months after which the city agreed to surrender, but only to caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab in person. Amr-bin al-Aas suggested that Khalid should be sent as caliph, because of his very strong resemblance with Caliph Umar. Khalid was recognized and eventually, Caliph Umar Ibn Al Khattab came and the
Jerusalem surrendered on April 637 CE.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Syria

The conquest of Marash city represented the end of Khalid's military career
Marash was conquered in autumn 638 CE.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marash


He had wanted to die a martyr in the field of battle, and was apparently disappointed when he knew that he would die in bed.

Khalid put all the torment of his soul into one last, anguished sentence:

“ I fought in so many battles seeking martyrdom that there is no place in my body but have a stabbing mark by a spear , a sword or a dagger, and yet here I am, dying on my bed like an old camel dies. May the eyes of the cowards never sleep


Khalid died and was buried in 642 in Emesa (Homs), Syria


His tomb is now part of a mosque called Jamia Khalid ibn al-Walid

(Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque).

wikimapia.org/#lat=34.7369398&lon=36.7156219&z=18&l=0&...


www.advancedtravel.org/capital_cities/khaled_mosque.htm

www.homsonline.com/EN/Citeis/Homs.htm


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Umar said

Let the women of the Banu Makhzum say what they will about Abu Sulaiman(Khalid), for they do not lie, over the likes of Abu Sulaiman weep those who weep."

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Much of Khalid's strategical and tactical genius lies in his use of extreme methods.

To him a battle was not just a neat maneuver leading to a military victory, but an action of total violence ending in the annihilation of the enemy forces, in order to account for the numerical inferiority of his own forces.
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double envelopment maneuver

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pincer_movement


The pincer movement or double envelopment is a basic element of military strategy which has been used, to some extent, in many wars, and is considered to be the consummate military maneuver, executed by Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, over 2,200 years ago.

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