Even the best forged swords break in the fieriest of battles, armors give way to flesh and bone and knights fall in account of their mortal steeds. Blood gushes through wounds and many souls part from their bodies to find their appointed resting place. As Muslims spread the word of Allah to different parts of the world, a warrior lay in his bed, weak but still passionate to stand in the midst of war. He thought about how many wars he fought, how many swords he broke. But never has history recorded the last moments on men in such profound manner.
One of the Sahaba walked in and the great warrior who once brought down super powers of his time said to him,” You know when Umar demoted me, I felt bad in my heart. But now I realized what Umar did was right.” He further explained, “Because Umar wanted good for the believers and I have nothing (bad) in my heart for Umar ibn Khattab (RA).”
People would come to see this great worrior in his bed and he would show them his arms, then his chest, then his legs and they would see nothing but wounds. There was not a handspan on his arm without a battle wound.
The warrior continued, “Look at me, I’ve fought a hundred duels, numerous battles and I’m dying on my bed?” Imagine the probability of person who stood in so many battles, is dying on his bed!
Somebody in the room replied, “You don’t understand. The day the Prophet dubbed you the Sword of Allah, it was impossible for you to die on battlefield. For if you died in the battlefield, it wouldv’e meant that the Sword of Allah was broken by an infidel and the sword of Allah can never be broken.”
Khalid had a horse and a sword and he sent it to the Ameer-ul-Mo’mineen, Umar ibn Khattab. When he saw it, Umar (RA) began to weep and he said Abu Bakr judged men far better than I did, he realized the virtue of Khalid ibn Waleed. (1)
Umar ibn Kahttab had a strict rule that no women could come out and cry. He even dispersed the women crying in Aysha‘s (RA) house when Abu Bakr (RA) passed away.
But this time when a man came to Umar ibn Khattab and said, “O Umar, the women of Banu Makhzum are crying over the death of Khalid bin Waleed!” Umar replied, “May your mother lose you, for the likes of Khalid, those who cry, should cry!”
(1) He said this because he had removed Khalid bin Waleed(RA) from fighting battles because people began to think that victory came due to Khalid.
Reference: Taken from Shiekh Zahir Mahmood’s lecture.
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