The Narration: “The first to apply black dye was Pharaoh” — Its Authenticity
Source: Fatāwā Amun Pūrī by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Pūrī
The Question
What is the authenticity of the narration:
“The first person to use black dye was Pharaoh”?
The Answer
This narration is mentioned in:
- al-Gharāʾib al-Multaqaṭah by Ibn Ḥajar (1/202)
- al-Durr al-Manthūr by al-Suyūṭī (1/282)
Its chain is severely weak due to the following reasons:
① Manṣūr Mawlā ʿAmmār — a known fabricator (waḍḍāʿ, forger of ḥadīth).
② ʿAbdullāh ibn Mūsā al-Ẓulmī — unknown; no details of his biography found.
③ The chain has further defects besides these.
Additional Report
It is also attributed to Imām Mujāhid رحمه الله that:
“The first to apply black dye was Pharaoh.”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 12/556)
- This chain too is weak because of ʿanʿanah of Sufyān al-Thawrī.
- In al-Awāʾil by Abū ʿUrubah (33), Sufyān explicitly states hearing (samāʿ), but the chain remains weak due to Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ, who is unreliable.
Conclusion
- The narration that Pharaoh was the first to use black dye is unauthentic.
- Both chains — whether attributed to the Prophet ﷺ or to Mujāhid رحمه الله — are weak, with one containing a known forger and the other with unreliable narrators.
- Hence, this report cannot be relied upon as evidence.
