Is the narration reported by Naim bin Hammad about the black and yellow flags sound?

- What is the soundness and narration of the hadith about the dispute among the black-flagged people like?
- What is the reason for the dispute among the black-flagged people?
- Who are the black-flagged people?

Amr bin Shuayb narrated from his father: When Hajjaj entered the Kaaba, I went to Abdullah ibn Umar, who was narrating the following:

“When the black-flagged people move from the east and the yellow-flagged people move from the west and meet in “Dimashq”, which is called the heart of Damascus, that will be the time of trouble; that will be the time of trouble.” (Hammad ibn Naim, Book of Fitnahs, Volume 1, p. 272)

The following was narrated from Zuhri: When the black-flagged people disagree among themselves, the yellow-flagged people will come upon them and gather on the bridge of Egypt. There will be war between the people of Mashriq (East) and the people of Maghrib (West) for 7 (days or weeks or months or years; it is not specified in the hadith). (Naim bin Hammad, Kitabul-Fitan-160)

- According to what was narrated from Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“The best of the people of Damascus and their armies and the most joyful of them are the people of Dimashq with the yellow flags. The evilest of the people and their armies are the people of Homs. They will fill Damascus like water filling a bucket.” (Hammad ibn Naim, Book of Fitnahs - Volume 1, p. 270)

Dear Brother / Sister,

- These narrations are weak. The following determinations were made about the narrator Naim bin Hammad as a result of jarh and ta’dil:

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal reported that Naim bin Hammad was reliable. Imam Nasai reported that this narrator was weak. Imam Abu Dawud said that the 20 hadiths narrated by this narrator were ungrounded. (Imam Dhahabi, Mizanul-Itidal fi Naqd Er Rical, Vol.4, p.267)

- Based on the concise statements of the hadiths, some narrators evaluated the time they were in and added their own interpretations especially to the narrations about wars and events in the end times. Zuhri’s statement, “Hisham (b. Abdulmalik) dies, and then a young man from his Ahl al-Bayt will be killed... Sulayman b. Hisham will be killed in the Arabian Peninsula...” can be given as an example to them.  (al-Fitan, 1/136, 197)

- Badiuzzaman Said Nursi expresses it as follows:  

“In addition, the interpretations and judgments of some of the narrators, which are based on their erroneous ijtihads, are mixed with the words of hadith and mistaken for hadith, and the meaning becomes hidden.” (Şualar, p. 581)

- The issues mentioned in such narrations might not be specific to one incident, but might be a sign of repeated battles throughout history. The fact that these narrations cover such a wide range of time periods makes them part of the category of ambiguous / mutashabih hadiths.

- There are narrations that the Prophet (pbuh) determined yellow flags for Ansar (see Majmauz-Zawahid, 5/321)

- However, the yellow flags could be a sign of the blonde race of Europe / the West, which is often called “Banu asfar”. The black flag, on the other hand, may refer to the dark and black people outside the West, especially in Asia and Africa.

- The fact that the Islamic world had been dealing with the crusades started by the Christians representing the yellow race throughout history might represent some of these narrations.

- The fact that the Ottoman State had to fight important wars with the Europeans in the Damascus region might also be a sign of these dirty wars that resulted in the collapse of the Ottoman State in particular.

The mention of Sufyani, a title of the “Dajjal of Islam” who will come in the end times, in the narration stated to be on page 160 of the book in question (actually, 1/270), in which it is reported that the battle will take place on the bridge of the Egyptians, is an indication of how mutashabih these narrations are.

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