List of Muslim military leaders

Entries in this chronological list of Muslim military leaders are accompanied by dates of birth and death, branch of Islam, country of birth, field of study, campaigns fought and a short biographical description. The list includes notable conquerors, generals and admirals from early Islamic history to the 21st century.

Muslim military leaders
  • Muhammad (Arabic: مُحَمَّد‎, pronounced [muˈħammad];c. 570 CE – 8 June 632 CE) was a prophet, Arab religious, social, and political leader. During his military career, the prophet led the muslims against the tribes of Arabia. The most notable battles were Battle of Badr, Battle of Uhud, Battle of the trench, and Conquest of Mecca.
  • Khalid ibn al-Walid (Arabic: خالد بن الوليد), also known as “The Sword of Allah”, was an Arab Muslim commander who was in the service of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) and Umar (r. 634–644). He played a leading role in the Ridda wars against rebel tribes in Arabia in 632–633 and the early Muslim conquests of Sasanian Iraq in 633–634 and Byzantine Syria in 634–638. Khalid ibn al-Walid was one of the few undefeated generals in history.
  • Ali (Arabic: عَلِيّ ٱبْن أَبِي طَالِب‎, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; 13 September 601 – 29 January 661), nicknamed Haydar ('Lion'), was the fourth Rashidun caliph and the first Shia Imam. He was a cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ali is traditionally considered to be one of the greatest and one of the most valiant Muslim warriors. He took part in almost all the battles fought by the nascent Muslim community. His contributions in the Battle of Khyber and the Battle of Badr are very well known.
  • Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib was a foster brother, companion and paternal uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was Martyred in the Battle of Uhud on 22 March 625 (3 Shawwal 3 hijri). His kunyas were "Abū ʿUmārah"[1]: 2  (أَبُو عُمَارَةَ) and "Abū Yaʿlā"[1]: 3  (أَبُو يَعْلَىٰ). He had the by-names Asad Allāh[1]: 2  (أَسَد ٱللَّٰه, "Lion of God") and Asad al-Jannah (أَسَد ٱلْجَنَّة, "Lion of Heaven"), and Muhammad gave him the posthumous title Sayyid ash-Shuhadāʾ (سَيِّد ٱلشُّهَدَاء).
  • Abu Bakr (Arabic: أَبُو بَكْرٍ عَبْدُ ٱللهِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ ابي قحافة‎; c. 573 CE – 23 August 634 CE) was the senior companion as well as the first caliph of Islam. During his reign, he overcame a number of uprisings, collectively known as the Ridda wars, as a result of which he was able to consolidate and expand the rule of the Muslim state over the entire Arabian peninsula. He also commanded the initial incursions into the neighbouring Sassanian and Byzantine empires, which in the years following his death, would eventually result in the Muslim conquests of Persia and the Levant.
  • Umar (Arabic: عمر بن الخطاب‎; c. 583/584 – 3 November 644), also known as Umar or Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph. He was one of the most powerful and influential Muslim caliphs in history. He was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Under Umar, the caliphate expanded at an unprecedented rate, ruling the Sasanian Empire and more than two-thirds of the Byzantine Empire. His attacks against the Sasanian Empire resulted in the conquest of Persia in less than two years (642–644). According to Jewish tradition, Omar set aside the Christian ban on Jews and allowed them into Jerusalem and to worship. Omar is revered in the Sunni tradition as a great ruler and paragon of Islamic virtues, and some hadiths identify him as the second greatest of the Sahabah after Abu Bakr.
  • Uthman (Arabic: عثمان بن عفان‎, romanized: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; c. 573/576 – 17 June 656), also spelled by the Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the third of the Rāshidun, or "Rightly Guided Caliphs". Born into a prominent Meccan clan, Banu Umayya of the Quraysh tribe, he played a major role in early Islamic history, and is known for having ordered the compilation of the standard version of the Quran.[6] When Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab died in office aged 59/60 years, Uthman, aged 64/65 years, succeeded him and was the second-oldest to rule as Caliph.
  • Abdallah ibn Sa'd, during his time as governor of Egypt (646 CE to 656 CE), Abdallah ibn Sa'd built a strong Arab navy. Under his leadership the Muslim navy won a number of victories including its first major naval battle against the Byzantine emperor Constans II at the Battle of the Masts in 654 CE.

8th century
  • Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading several campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and the Khazar Khaganate. He achieved great fame especially for leading the second Arab siege of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.
  • Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik, also known as Sa'id al-Khayr (Sa'id the Good) was an Umayyad Prince, Governor and Military leader.
  • Tariq ibn-Ziyad d.720: An Amazigh (Berber) general who converted to Islam after the Arab conquest,he was a governor in tangier (city in morocco), he later led the Muslim army which conquered Hispania.
  • Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi: A Spanish Umayyad general born in Yemen who fought Charles Martel twice in France in the battles of Tours and Narbonne, and was defeated in both engagements.
  • Maslama ibn Hisham, also known as Abu Shakir, was an Umayyad prince and Military commander.
  • Sulayman ibn Hisham, was an Arab general, the son of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 723–743). He is known for his participation in the expeditions against the Byzantines.
  • Zaid ibn Ali: An Arab who fought the Banu Umayyad.
  • Muhammad bin Qasim: 695–715: An early Arab General who captured Sind and Multan and parts of Punjab in Pakistan.
  • Isma'il ibn Jafar: An Arab who fought the Banu Umayyad.
  • Marwan II Last Umayyad Caliph and a military leader
  • Qutaibah bin Muslim: An Arab Muslim general who captured Transoxiana.
  • Abdallah ibn Ali, Abbasid General and Governor of Syria.
  • Salih ibn Ali, Abbasid General and Provincial Governor.
  • Abu Muslim, the Abbasid general, Governor of Khorasan under As-Saffah.
  • As-Saffah Abbasid Caliph, founder of Abbasid Dynasty and a military leader.
  • Al-Mansur Abbasid Caliph and a powerful military leader.
  • Al-Mahdi Abbasid Caliph and a powerful military leader.
  • Abd al-Malik ibn Salih, (died 812) was a member of the Cadet branch of Abbasid dynasty who served as general and governor in Syria and Egypt. He distinguished himself in several raids against the Byzantine Empire.
  • Idris I of Morocco, founder of the Idrisid dynasty.

9th century

10th century

11th century
  • Alp Arslan Muhammad Ālp Ārslan ibn Dawūd Persian: ضياء الدنيا و الدين عضد الدولة ابو شجاع محمد آلپ ارسلان ابن داود‎;‎ 20 January 1029 – 15 December 1072), real name Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri, was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to south and northwest and his victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, in 1071, ushered in the Turkoman settlement of Anatolia.[2] For his military prowess and fighting skills he obtained the name Alp Arslan, which means "Heroic Lion" in Turkish.
  • Malik-Shah I sultan of Seljuk empire he took his empire to a greatest extent
  • Tughril Beg: founder of the Seljuq Dynasty. He united many Turkmen warriors of the Central Asian steppes into a confederacy of tribes, who traced their ancestry to a single ancestor named Seljuk, and led them in conquest of eastern Iran. He would later establish the Seljuk Sultanate after conquering Iran and retaking the Abbasid capital of Baghdad from the Buyids in 1055. Tughril relegated the Abbasid Caliphs to state figureheads and took command of the caliphate's armies in military offensives against the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimids in an effort to expand his empire's borders and unite the Islamic world.
  • Yusuf ibn Tashfin: founder of the Almoravid Dynasty in the Islamic West, he secured several decisive military victories against the Christians in Al-Andalus and was able to reunify it under his rule after a period of internal fragmentation known as Muluk Al-Tawaif.
  • Ibn Tumart Founder of the Almohad dynasty.
  • Ahmad Sanjar Sultan of Seljuk Empire son of Malik-Shah_I

12th century
Saladin and Guy of Lusignan after Battle of Hattin

13th century

14th century
  • Murad I (Ottoman Turkish: مراد اول‎; Turkish: I. Murad, Murad-ı Hüdavendigâr (nicknamed Hüdavendigâr, from Persian: خداوندگار‎, romanized: Khodāvandgār, lit. 'the devotee of God' – meaning "sovereign" in this context); 29 June 1326 – 15 June 1389) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1362 to 1389. He was a son of Orhan Gazi and Nilüfer Hatun. Murad I came into the throne after his elder brother Süleyman Pasha's death.
  • Bayezid I: The Fourth Sultan of Ottoman empire and The victor at the Battle of Nicopolis
  • Zheng He 1371–1433: A Chinese mariner, explorer and admiral who was born into a Muslim family but embraced a broader ranging religious faith later.
Sultan Mehmed II's entry into Constantinople

15th century

16th century
Suleiman with army

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century
  • Abdulaziz al-Saud, also known as Ibn Saud was the founder of Saudi Arabia, the third Saudi Empire. He was King of Saudi Arabia from 23 September 1932 to his death. He had ruled parts of the kingdom as early as 1902, having previously been Emir, Sultan, and King of Nejd and King of Hejaz. He was an Arab Military leader. He Conquered Kingdom of Hejaz in 1925.
  • Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938): He was a poet, philosopher and politician of South Asia the visionary of a separate state for the Muslims of British-ruled India. He is the national poet of Pakistan
  • Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1887–1948): served as the leader of the Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, and then as the Dominion of Pakistan's first Governor-General until his death. He is revered in Pakistan as the Quaid-i-Azam "Great Leader"
  • Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953–2001): also known as the National Hero of Afghanistan He was the conqueror of cold war in Afghanistan, guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989).
  • Alija Izetbegovic: (1925-2003) was a Bosnian politician;lawyer and Islamic philosopher.who became the 1st president of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.he was a member of tripartiate presidency of Bosnia until his death.he bravely defended the Bosnian nation and Bosnian Muslims from Serb aggression during the civil war in Bosnia and brought peace and stability to Bosnia.
  • Mullah Mohammad Omar (1960–2013): Founder of Taliban and First Emir (Supreme Leader) of Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan

See also

References
  1. Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
  2. Thomas Patrick Hughes (1895). "Saʿd Ibn Abī Waqqās". A Dictionary of Islam. London: W.H. Allen & Co. p. 554.
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