Black flag in Iran was a call to mourning, not war, shrine says | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY
·3 min read
Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
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The claim: The Islamic Black Flag raised in Iran signifies a call to war

An Oct. 17 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a picture of the golden dome of the Imam Reza shrine in Iran, with a black flag flying at the top of it. The caption warns the flag means something foreboding.

“This is a Scripture-based (Qur'an) call to all of Islam for War,” reads part of the post. “This flag was used by the Prophet Muhammad and is a sign of religious revolt/rebellion and engagement of battle.”

The Facebook post was shared more than 5,000 times in a week.

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Our rating: False

The black flag was raised over the Imam Reza shrine as a call to mourning, not war, as confirmed by experts and statements from the shrine.

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The Imam Reza shrine is the largest mosque in the world and a significant site for Iranians and Muslims globally. The shrine serves as a destination for spiritual pilgrimages. As of 2022, half a million people visited the site each day.

The shrine has raised flags over its dome previously to mark the celebration or memorial of historic events. It raised a black flag after an explosion that killed at least 100 people at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on Oct. 17.

The shrine addressed the significance of the flag in Oct. 17 posts on Facebook and other social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter)

“Mourning flag over the dome of Imam Reza's shrine,” reads one Facebook post from the shrine. “In an unprecedented gesture and by the order of the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, the black flag has been hoisted above the illuminated and pure Razavi dome, and drum beating will not be played tomorrow. This comes as a response to the barbaric crimes of the usurping Zionist regime, especially the bombardment of the Al-Mu'amdani hospital.”

Images posted by the shrine show the flag being raised atop the dome and the crowd below, clad in black and waving the Palestinian flag.

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The shrine's statement is consistent with the traditional meaning of a black flag, said Shahla Haeri, a professor of cultural anthropology at Boston University, with ethnographic research focused on Iran, Pakistan and India.

“While it is hard to determine who means what and who wants to do what to whom in the thick of the fog of war and ongoing brutality and violence that is going on in Gaza and the (Middle East), I can tell you that black flag is a sign of collective mourning – and not necessarily of war,” Haeri said in an email.

Sajjad Rizvi, professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the University of Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, told Reuters that black flags are “usually raised on shrines to symbolize mourning – in Muharram and other times to mark the death anniversary of the Prophet and the Shii (Shia) Imams."

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact, AFP, Check Your Fact and the Associated Press also fact-checked this claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Black flag of mourning response to Gaza hospital deaths | Fact check