28.2 Khalid ibn Al-Walid Khaled ibn Al-Walid was a man of keen perception and sharp intellect. He came from the powerful tribe of Banu Makhzum who had been entrusted for generation after generation with the defense of Mecca. They had a hereditary knowledge of war tactics and excelled in these. It was he who changed the defeat of Quraysh into victory at Uhud. All during the years of his youth Khaled had lived in an atmosphere hostile to the Messenger, for his father, one of the greatest and most influential men in Quraysh, was a bitter enemy to Mohamed. Khaled, however, had an observant mind of his own, and as he fought with surpassing courage in one battle after another, he could see that the laws of nature were being broken for the sake of a few, poor, ill-equipped, and inexperienced Muslims. He began to study Mohamed's words, as indeed all his enemies did, in the hope of finding something absurd or incongruous in them that they could use to divert people from him. Khaled studied his words to find out the truth, whatever it may be. Then one day he stood in a council of Quraysh and with moral courage, equal to his physical courage in battle, said, "It has become clear to any who has a brain that Mohamed is no sorcerer and no poet, that his words are the words of the Lord of creation. It is the duty of all who have intelligence to follow him." His words created a storm of confusion in the meeting and he was accused of defecting from the religion of his forefathers. Khaled replied, "Nay, I have submitted myself to the Lord of All after the truth has been revealed to me." Then he left for Medina to swear allegiance to Mohamed and enter into Islam. Two more of the Qurayshi nobles entered into Islam after the pilgrimage of the Muslims to Mecca. One of them, Amr ibn Al-As, was to be the general who conquered Egypt.