ϭϱ Volume 6, Issue 8 | September 2014 Counter Terrorist Trends and Analysis ISIS’ black flag, which is also used by several other jihadist groups such as the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda’s Al Nusra Front, the Chechen jihadist fighters and non-violent Islamist groups such as Hizb ut -Tahrir, is never mentioned in the Quran. Although the black flag appears in the Hadith (reports of the teachings, deeds and sayings of the Prophet), it is based on weak symbolism or the narrations are unsubstantiated. Lately, images of black flags have become a prominent feature in the media. It is proudly displayed by militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)/Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), during their victory parades and are flown across vast Sunni territories in Iraq that have fallen into their hands. In fact, the black flag is not exclusively used by the IS. It is used for its symbolic value by a number of radical and militant groups such the Taliban in Afghanistan, Jabhah Al Nusrah/ Al Nusra Front (a branch of Al Qaeda) in Syria, Al Qaeda central in Afghanistan/ Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Chechen jihadist fighters and the Hizb ut-Tahrir (‘Party of Liberation’, an unarmed international Islamic political movement headquartered in Lebanon), as depicted in the following table. The Black Flag Myth: An Analysis from Hadith Studies Mustazah Bahari and Muhammad Haniff Hassan