- “The Messenger of Allah’s standard was white, and his banner was black.”
It was reported by al-Tirmidhī (no. 1681), Ibn Mājah (2/189), al-Ḥākim (2/105), and al-Khaṭīb in his History (14/332), through Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq al-Saylaḥīnī: “Yazīd ibn Ḥayyān narrated to us; Abū Mijlaz Lāḥiq ibn Ḥumayd informed me, from Ibn ʿAbbās,” attributing it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Al-Tirmidhī said: “A good, singular hadith.”
I say: Rather, it is good on account of corroborating evidence, for this Ibn Ḥayyān—who was the brother of Muqātil ibn Ḥayyān—was truthful but prone to error, as al-Ḥāfiẓ said. Al-Dhahabī said in the Talkhīṣ, commenting on al-Ḥākim, who had cited him as supporting evidence: “I say: Yazīd is weak.”
A supporting narration for the hadith is that reported by Sharīk, from ʿAmmār al-Duhnī, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, may Allah be pleased with him: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered Mecca on the day of the Conquest, and his standard was white.” It was reported by Abū Dāwūd (1/405), al-Nasāʾī (2/30), Ibn Mājah, al-Tirmidhī as well (1679), and al-Ḥākim, who said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria.”
I say: Al-Dhahabī left this without comment—or so it appears in his Talkhīṣ. Yet al-Ḥākim’s assessment is open to question, for Sharīk—namely, Ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Qāḍī—was not relied upon independently by Muslim; rather, Muslim only narrated from him alongside another transmitter or as a corroborating report. Moreover, he had poor retention. Thus, his hadith is good when used as corroborative evidence, as it is here, since it supports the first half of the hadith.
The second half is supported by the hadith of Abū Yaʿqūb al-Thaqafī, who said: “Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, the client of Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim, told me: Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim sent me to al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib to ask him what the Messenger of Allah’s banner was like. He replied:”