Al-Walid was born in Medina c. 674.
His father, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, was a member of the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe.
At the time of al-Walid's birth, another Umayyad, Mu'awiya I, was caliph.
The latter hailed from the Sufyanid branch of the clan, resident in Syria, while al-Walid's family belonged to the larger Abu al-As line in the Hejaz (western Arabia).
Al-Walid's mother was Wallada bint al-Abbas ibn al-Jaz, a fourth-generation descendant of the 6th-century Arab chieftain Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Banu Abs clan of Ghatafan.
When Umayyad rule collapsed in 684 during the Second Fitna, the Umayyads of the Hejaz were expelled by a rival claimant to the caliphate, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.
After reaching Syria, al-Walid's grandfather, the elder statesman Marwan I, was recognized as caliph by the pro-Umayyad Arab tribes of the province, including the powerful Banu Kalb.
With these tribes' support, he gradually restored the dynasty's rule in Syria and Egypt.
Abd al-Malik succeeded Marwan and conquered the rest of the Caliphate, namely Iraq with its eastern dependencies and Arabia.
With the key assistance of his viceroy in Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, he instituted several centralization measures, which consolidated Umayyad territorial gains.

The war with the Byzantine Empire resumed in 692 after the collapse of the ten-year truce that had been reached in 689.
Annual campaigns were thereafter launched by the Umayyads in the Arab–Byzantine frontier zone and beyond.
During his father's caliphate, al-Walid led the campaigns in 695, 696, 697 and 698.
In his summer 696 campaign, he raided the area between Malatya (Melitene) and al-Massisa (Mopsuestia), while in the following year, he targeted a place known in Arabic sources as "Atmar", located at some point north of Malatya.
He also led the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan to Mecca in 698.

In 700/01, al-Walid patronized the construction or expansion of Qasr Burqu', a fortified Syrian Desert outpost connecting Palmyra in the north with the Azraq oasis and Wadi Sirhan basin in the south, ultimately leading to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
A dedicatory inscription at the site names al-Walid, describing him as "the emir ... son of the commander of the faithful".
According to the historian Jere L. Bacharach, al-Walid also built up the nearby site of Jabal Says, likely as a Bedouin summer encampment between his base of operations in al-Qaryatayn and Qasr Burqu'.
Bacharach speculates that al-Walid used these sites, located in the territory of Arab tribes, such as the Banu Kalb, to reaffirm their loyalty, which had been critical to the Umayyads during the civil war.
Al-Walid was born in Medina c. 674. His father, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, was a member of the Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe. At the time of al-Walid's birth, another Umayyad, Mu'awiya I, was caliph. The latter hailed from the Sufyanid branch of the clan, resident in Syria, while al-Walid's family belonged to the larger Abu al-As line in the Hejaz (western Arabia). Al-Walid's mother was Wallada bint al-Abbas ibn al-Jaz, a fourth-generation descendant of the 6th-century Arab chieftain Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Banu Abs clan of Ghatafan. When Umayyad rule collapsed in 684 during the Second Fitna, the Umayyads of the Hejaz were expelled by a rival claimant to the caliphate, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. After reaching Syria, al-Walid's grandfather, the elder statesman Marwan I, was recognized as caliph by the pro-Umayyad Arab tribes of the province, including the powerful Banu Kalb. With these tribes' support, he gradually restored the dynasty's rule in Syria and Egypt. Abd al-Malik succeeded Marwan and conquered the rest of the Caliphate, namely Iraq with its eastern dependencies and Arabia. With the key assistance of his viceroy in Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, he instituted several centralization measures, which consolidated Umayyad territorial gains.
The war with the Byzantine Empire resumed in 692 after the collapse of the ten-year truce that had been reached in 689. Annual campaigns were thereafter launched by the Umayyads in the Arab–Byzantine frontier zone and beyond. During his father's caliphate, al-Walid led the campaigns in 695, 696, 697 and 698. In his summer 696 campaign, he raided the area between Malatya (Melitene) and al-Massisa (Mopsuestia), while in the following year, he targeted a place known in Arabic sources as "Atmar", located at some point north of Malatya. He also led the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan to Mecca in 698. 
In 700/01, al-Walid patronized the construction or expansion of Qasr Burqu', a fortified Syrian Desert outpost connecting Palmyra in the north with the Azraq oasis and Wadi Sirhan basin in the south, ultimately leading to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. A dedicatory inscription at the site names al-Walid, describing him as "the emir ... son of the commander of the faithful". According to the historian Jere L. Bacharach, al-Walid also built up the nearby site of Jabal Says, likely as a Bedouin summer encampment between his base of operations in al-Qaryatayn and Qasr Burqu'. Bacharach speculates that al-Walid used these sites, located in the territory of Arab tribes, such as the Banu Kalb, to reaffirm their loyalty, which had been critical to the Umayyads during the civil war.
Al-Walid I