5. The Black Flags From Khurasan
In the last chapter, we analyzed the
sahih Sunni
hadith of Thawban which establishes that the army of the Mahdi,
‘alaihi al-salam, will march from “the Eastern towns” (as explained by Ibn Kathir), and will fight and kill other Muslims in a way no nation had ever done to them. So, what are these Eastern towns? Dr. al-Bastawi copies a
hadith that gives their name:
Narrated ‘Abd Allah (b. Mas’ud):
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “When
the black flags come from Khurasan, go to them, for among them is the
khalifah of Allah, the Mahdi.”
1
After thoroughly examining the narrators of its
isnad, he concludes:
Based upon this, then this chain is fit to be used as a
shahid (support), especially since its text has been narrated through another chain from Thawban, may Allah be pleased with him,
with a hasan chain. With that,
this hadith becomes hasan li ghayrihi.
2
The Sahabi, Thawban, also confirmed this exact identity of the Eastern towns in one of his personal statements. Imam al-Hakim (d. 403 H) documents:
Al-Hasan b. Ya’qub b. Yusuf – Yahya b. Abi Talib – ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. ‘Aṭa – Khalid al-Hadha – Abu Qilabah – Abu Asma – Thawban, may Allah be pleased with him:
“When you see the black flags coming out from the direction of
Khurasan, then go to them even if you have to crawl, for verily among them is the
khalifah of Allah, the Mahdi.”
3
Al-Hakim then says:
This hadith is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs.
4
Imam al-Dhahabi (d. 748 H), on his part, keeps silent on the
riwayah. This
hadith, although
mawquf, has the status (
hukm) of a
marfu’ report. This is because it mentions a matter of the unseen (
al-ghayb), which the Sahabi could have gotten only from the Messenger of Allah,
sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi.
Imam al-Maruzi (d. 229 H) has recorded the same narration:
Abu Nasr al-Khaffaf – Khalid – Abu Qilabah – Thawban:
“When you see
the black flags coming out from the direction of Khurasan, then go to them even if you have to crawl on snow, for verily among them is the
khalifah of Allah, the Mahdi.”
5
We already know about Khalid, Abu Qilabah and Thawban from the last chapter. Their
isnad is
sahih. The only new name here is Abu Nasr al-Khaffaf. His name is ‘Abd al-Wahhab b. ‘Aṭa. We see al-Hakim above declaring his
hadith to be
sahih too. Meanwhile, this is what al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) also says about him:
‘Abd al-Wahhab b. ‘Aṭa al-Khaffaf, Abu Nasr al-‘Ijli, their freed slave, al-Basri, a resident of Baghdad:
Saduq (very truthful), maybe he made mistakes.
6
Moreover, we also know, from the
riwayah of al-Hakim, that there actually was a link between Abu Qilabah and Thawban, and he was Abu Asma. As such, the
sanad is
hasan. Therefore, “the East” and “the Eastern towns” in the
ahadith on the black flags are, again, only references to Khurasan.
In the last chapter, we analyzed the sahih Sunni hadith of Thawban which establishes that the army of the Mahdi, ‘alaihi al-salam, will march from “the Eastern towns” (as explained by Ibn Kathir), and will fight and kill other Muslims in a way no nation had ever done to them. So, what are these...
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What are you gonna expect some man to come out from some cave? Do some magic tricks.. Not even prophets did that why should he be able to do that.. except if his not dajjal.
The lowly rebels who were eliminated by the maribean locals? Yeah right they can't defeat just one division within the Yemen armed forces the Giants brigade. You have no idea who is actully fighting them on the ground.
As that poster said you praised the Yemeni army unintentionally
