Black Standard

{{main|Hadith of black flags}}

Arab armies in the 7th century were using standards to identify themselves on the field of battle. Among these standards, the {{Transliteration|ar|rāya}} was a square banner; not to be confused with the liwa (Arabic) or {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ʿalam}}, an identifying mark like a red turban.{{sfn|Hinds|1996|pp=97–142}}{{sfn|Hinds|1996|pp=104–106}}

Islamic tradition states that the Quraysh had a black {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|liwāʾ}} and a white-and-black {{Transliteration|ar|rāya}}.{{sfn|Hinds|1996|p=133}} It further states that Muhammad had an {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ʿalam}} in white nicknamed "the Young Eagle" ({{lang|ar|العقاب}}, {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|al-ʿuqāb}}); and a {{Transliteration|ar|rāya}} in black, said to be made from his wife Aisha's head-cloth.{{sfn|Nicolle|1993|p=6}} This larger flag was known as {{em|the}} Eagle.{{sfn|Hinds|1996|p=108}}

The hadith reports Muhammad said that the advent of the Mahdi would be signalled by Black Standards proceeding from Khorasan and that it will be the flag of the army that will fight the Masih ad-Dajjal.{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=153}}{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=125}}{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=206}} At the Battle of Siffin, according to tradition, Ali used the {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|liwāʾ}} of the Prophet, which was white{{sfn|Hinds|1996|pp=97–142}}{{sfn|Hinds|1996|pp=104–106}} while those who fought against him instead used black banners.{{sfn|Hinds|1996|p=109}}

The Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate adopted black for its {{Transliteration|ar|rāyaʾ}} for which their partisans were called the {{Transliteration|ar|musawwid}}s.{{citation | title=Abbāsid Authority Affirmed | author=Tabari | year=1995 | publisher=SUNY | volume=28 |editor1=Jane McAuliffe |page=124}} Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to Marwan II adopted red.{{cite book | author=Patricia Crone | author-link=Patricia Crone | title=The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam |year=2012 |page=122}} As remembered in pro-Umayyad apocalyptic: p. 125} The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the Mahdi. The contrast of white vs. black as the Fatimid vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam."The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black [...] The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white [...] The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy [...] white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=L-lPC7DgepEC&pg=PA96 pp. 97f.] After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger.{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=153}}{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=125}}{{sfn|Cook|2002|p=206}} Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last".{{cite book | author=Patricia Crone | title=The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam |year=2012 |page=243}}

The flag was also used by the Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire during his conquest of Egypt in 1517{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/cambridge-history-of-turkey-volume-3/page/67/mode/2up | title=Cambridge History of Turkey - Volume 3 | date=April 2009 }} and continued to be used by Ottoman rulers in battle.

A black flag was used by the Hotak dynasty in the early 18th century, following Mirwais Hotak's Sunni rebellion against the Twelver Shi'i Safavid dynasty and later by the Emirate of Afghanistan under Abdur Rahman Khan (1880–1901).

On 21 July 1848, under orders from the Báb, the Bábí leader Mullá Husayn raised the Black Standard in Mashhad (in Iran's Khorasan Province) and began a march westwards. The mission was most likely proclamatory but possibly also to rescue another Bábí leader, Quddús, who was under house arrest in Sárí. After being rebuffed at the town of Barfurush, the group took up making defensive fortifications at the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi. It is reported the Black Standard flew above the Bábí fortress until the end of the Battle of Fort Tabarsi.{{cite book|author=Smith, Peter|author-link=Peter Smith (historian)|year=2000|title=A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith|publisher=Oneworld Publications, Oxford|isbn=1-85168-184-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit}}{{cite journal | last =Momen | first = Moojan|author-link= Moojan Momen | title =The Social Basis of the Babi Upheavals in Iran (1848–53): A Preliminary Analysis |journal =International Journal of Middle East Studies | volume =15 | issue =2 | pages =157–183 | publisher =Cambridge University Press | date = May 1983 | jstor =162988 | doi=10.1017/s0020743800052260| s2cid = 162465531}} According to Denis MacEoin, the Bábís were on their mission of spreading Babism, "by preaching if possible, by force if necessary."{{Cite book|last=MacEoin|first=Dennis|url=https://brill.com/view/title/14923|title=The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism|year=2008|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-4307-0|pages=484|language=en}}

As Arab nationalism developed in the early 20th century, the black within the Pan-Arab colors was chosen to represent the Abbasid dynastic color.Edmund Midura, [https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/197802/flags.of.the.arab.world.htm "Flags of the Arab World"], in Saudi Aramco World, March/April 1978, pp. 4–9

{{anchor|Ahmadiyya flag}}

The Ahmadiyya movement also employs black and white colours in its flag ({{Transliteration|ar|Liwaa-i Ahmadiyya}}), first hoisted in 1939.{{cite web |url=https://www.alislam.org/library/history/ahmadiyya/68.html |title=A Brief History of Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam |publisher=Alislam.org |date=1939-12-28 |access-date=2016-03-23 |archive-date=2016-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821144702/http://www.alislam.org/library/history/ahmadiyya/68.html |url-status=dead }} Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Caliphate, explained the symbolism of the colours black and white in terms of the concept of revelation and prophethood.{{cite web |url=http://www.askislam.org/practices/question_681.html |title=Question: Why do Muslims use black flags if the color black is associated with death and mourning? |publisher=Askislam.org |date=1984-10-22 |access-date=2016-03-23 }}{{cite web |url=http://www2.alislam.org/askislam/mp3/MEI_19841022_02.mp3 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-06-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630013953/http://www2.alislam.org/askislam/mp3/MEI_19841022_02.mp3 |archive-date=2015-06-30 |quote=Black absorbs total light, [it] does not emit an iota of light, so from looking heavenly-wards black indicates that we absorb entire light from heaven, and white reflects total light without being dishonest about it, so a Messenger has two aspects. One of receiving things from Allah, in that respect he's nabi [prophet], whatever he receives he completely, totally absorbs, and when he speaks to the others he reflects the entire light without being dishonest or stingy about it, so that reflection makes it white. So reception that is a complete reception without leaving anything out and reflection that is a complete reflection without leaving anything out, they are witnessed only in two colours: black and white. So both have been employed in Islam as flags.}}

{{Main|Jihadist flags}}

The Black Banner, which is distinct from the ISIL flag, has been used by some militant groups since the 1990s, including some Chechen groups. Scholars have interpreted IS's use of a similar black flag as representing their claim to re-establishing a caliphate. Similar black flags have been used throughout Islamic history, including in Afghanistan during the early 20th century.{{cite web| title = Flag being held by Lindt Chocolat Cafe hostages is not an Islamic State flag| author1 = David Wroe | author2 = James Massola| work = The Sydney Morning Herald| date = December 16, 2014 | access-date = 2015-03-03| url = https://www.smh.com.au/national/flag-being-held-by-lindt-chocolat-cafe-hostages-is-not-an-islamic-state-flag-20141215-1279s0.html| quote = the black banner which was used in the 1990s}}

{{portal|Islam}}

• Black Banner Organization
• Christian Flag
• Islamic flag
• Jihadist flag
• List of black flags
• Tawhid
• Black Flag of Anarchism

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Cook|first=David|title=Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxfYAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Darwin Press|isbn=978-0-87850-142-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Hinds|first=Martin|title=Studies in Early Islamic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0dtAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Darwin Press|isbn=978-0-87850-109-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David|author-link=David Nicolle|title=Armies of the Muslim Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCKEjusDE6MC&pg=PA6|year=1993|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-85532-279-0}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100729114331/http://ctc.usma.edu/imagery/imagery_warfare.asp#blackflag The Black Flag (al-raya)] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20110413143951/http://ctc.usma.edu/imagery/imagery.asp The Islamic Imagery Project]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111008222438/http://www.makingsenseofjihad.com/2009/02/the-semiotics-of-a-black-flag.html The Semiotics of a Black Flag] (makingsenseofjihad.com)
• Usama Hasan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20151019080815/https://unity1.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/the-black-flags-of-khurasan/ The Black Flags of Khurasan] (unity1.wordpress.com)

{{Islam topics}}

Category:Abbasid Caliphate

Standard, Black

Category:Islamic eschatology

Category:Islamic symbols

Category:Islamic terminology

Category:Religious flags

Category:Religious symbols

Abbasid Caliphate