unity faith and discipline: umar the great and khalid bin walid

khalid bin walid: undoubtedly one of the greatest generals of all time. actually defeated the muslims before converting to islam. also very aggressive and was accused of killing innocent people in the course of the battle. when hazrat omar became khalifa, his first act was to remove khalid bin walid from his post as the head of the muslim army that was engaged in the siege of damascus which was held by romans at that time. following is from the order notifying dismissal of khalid bin walid:

"...Send not the Muslims to their destruction for the sake of plunder; and place not the Muslims in a camp without reconnoitring it and knowing what is there.

Send not expeditions except in properly organised units. And beware of taking any steps which may lead to the annihilation of the Muslims..."

and hazrat umar’s rationale for dismissing khalid bin walid:

"I am not averse to Khalid being in command. But he is wasteful and squanders his wealth on poets and warriors, giving them more than they deserve, which wealth could be better spent in helping the poor and the needy among the Muslims....."

dismissal order was passed to khalid bin walid after he successfully led the conquest of damascus. khalid bin walid’s reaction to his dismissal: he fought on as an ordinary soldier. when asked by the general who was his replacement as the c-and-c to lead another expedition, khalid bin walid responded:

"By Allah, if you were to appoint a small child over me, I would obey him..."

eventually hazrat umar dismissed khalid bin walid from the army. but when khalid bin walid died, he made hazrat umar the beneficiary of his will.