Abbasids
Appeared
In brief
The Abbasids were descendants of the Prophet's ﷺ uncle al-Abbas. They overthrew the Umayyads in 132 AH and ruled from Baghdad. Some reports are said to foretell their rise.
The reports that name them, or speak of a ruler called al-Saffah, are weak, and some of them were spread during the revolution itself. No sahih hadith names the Abbasids. They ruled from the second to the seventh Islamic century, until the Mongols ended their caliphate in Baghdad in 656 AH.
The Abbasid age saw the great hadith collections compiled, Bukhari and Muslim among them. Their story also shows how prophecy can be used as propaganda, a lesson that matters for later 'black banner' movements too.
When a movement claims prophecy for itself, check the grade of the narration first.
Where it sits in the sequence
Events the narrations foretold that scholars connect with the first centuries of Islam. No single narration puts them in order.
Strongest narrations
Read all in the archive →Tags are automatic and unreviewed.
No sahih or hasan narration is tagged with this sign yet.
Weak and ungraded reports on this sign
46
Shown for study, not as established. Includes Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad, which is ungraded and weak overall.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
تخرج راية سوداء من خراسان لبني العباس
A black flag emerges from Khorasan for the Abbasids
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
ما لي ولبني العباس، شيعوا أمتي، وألبسوهم ثياب السواد، ألبسهم الله ثياب النار
What do I have to do with the sons of Abbas? They made my nation Shiite and dressed them in black clothes. Allah dressed them in the clothes of Hell.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
تخرج من المشرق رايات سود لبني العباس، ثم تمكث ما شاء الله، ثم تخرج رايات سود صغار على رجل من ولد أبي سفيان وأصحابه من قبل المشرق
Black flags of Banu Abbas will emerge from the East, then they will remain as long as Allah wills, then small black flags will emerge from a man from the descendants of Abu Sufyan and his companions from the East.
Kitab al-Fitan of Nu'aym ibn Hammad: ungraded, and weak overall. Never established on its own.
ما لي ولبني العباس، شيعوا أمتي، وسفكوا دماءهم، وألبسوهم ثياب السواد، ألبسهم الله ثياب النار
What do I have to do with the sons of Abbas? They took my nation to their knees, shed their blood, and dressed them in black clothes. Allah dressed them in the clothes of fire.
What scholars have said
Scholars cite it as having appeared
Imam Ibn Kathird. 774 AH (701-774 AH)
Collects the reports about the rule of Banu al-Abbas, judges most of them weak or fabricated, and records their rule (from 132 AH) as having come about.
al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah, Dala'il al-Nubuwwah: reports on Banu al-Abbas
Imam Jalaluddin Al-Suyutid. 911 AH (849-911 AH)
Narrates the Abbasid caliphate as past history, down to his own time in Cairo.
Tarikh al-Khulafa', the Abbasid caliphs
Present-day data
These numbers show the world today beside the narration. They do not decide whether the sign has appeared; that is shown only through named scholars, in the Scholars' views tab.
No sahih narration names the Abbasids. The reports of black banners from Khurasan, which their revolution claimed for itself, were graded weak by the hadith critics, and Ibn Kathir notes how the Abbasid movement used them. Their history is shown here because their rise and fall are bound up with those reports and with the Mongol invasion that scholars connect with the hadith of the Turks.
Narrations behind this panel: Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2269
Ramadan 129 AH · June 747 CERevolt under black bannersالرايات السودMerv, KhurasanAbu Muslim al-Khurasani raised the black banners of the Abbasid call (da'wah) against the Umayyads.Khurasan taken; the army marched west
The reports 'black banners will come from Khurasan' were circulated in this movement. Al-Tirmidhi 2269 and Ibn Majah 4084 carry versions that the critics graded weak.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah
145 AH · 762 CEBaghdad foundedمدينة السلامOn the Tigris, Iraqal-Mansur built the Round City, Madinat al-Salam, as the new capital.Became one of the largest cities in the world
Baghdad became the centre of learning where much of the hadith, fiqh and tafsir literature was written down, including the work of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Historical record
170-193 AH · 786-809 CEHarun al-Rashidهارون الرشيدBaghdadThe best-known Abbasid caliph, who alternated years of Hajj and campaigning.The height of Abbasid power
Imam Malik and Abu Yusuf were among the scholars of his time.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Historical record
- Sources
- Wikipedia: Harun al-Rashid
218-c. 234 AH · 833-848 CEThe MihnahالمحنةBaghdadal-Ma'mun and his successors forced scholars to declare the Quran created.Ahmad ibn Hanbal refused and was imprisoned and flogged; al-Mutawakkil ended it
Scholars cite Ahmad's steadfastness as an example of holding to the religion under pressure.
- Scholars who comment on it
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'
- Sources
- Wikipedia: Mihna
334 AH · 945 CEThe Buyids take BaghdadالبويهيونBaghdadA Daylamite dynasty took control of Baghdad and left the caliph a figurehead.Caliphs kept the title, others held power; the Seljuks replaced the Buyids in 447 AH
From here on the caliphate was mostly symbolic, with sultans and emirs ruling in its name.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Historical record
- Sources
- Wikipedia: Buyid dynasty
Safar 656 AH · February 1258 CEFall of Baghdadسقوط بغدادBaghdadHulagu's Mongol army besieged and sacked the city.The caliph al-Musta'sim killed; the caliphate of Baghdad ended
Ibn Kathir gives a long account and very high death tolls; modern historians give lower figures. Scholars connect the Mongol invasion with the hadith of fighting the Turks.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah
659-923 AH · 1261-1517 CEAbbasid caliphs of Cairoالخلافة العباسية في القاهرةCairoThe Mamluk sultans installed a surviving Abbasid as caliph in Cairo.Ended when the Ottomans took Egypt
A ceremonial caliphate that gave legitimacy to the Mamluks for two and a half centuries.
- Scholars who comment on it
- Historical record
Read with care
- Hijri dates are as the classical historians give them; Common Era years are converted and may be off by a year. Where historians differ on a date, the commonly cited one is shown.
- Showing this history is not a claim that any narration foretold the Abbasids by name; the reports that seem to do so are weak.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.