The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The best of horses is the jet-black one with a white blaze on its forehead, white markings on three legs, and a white upper lip, with the right foreleg free of any white. If not jet-black, then a dark bay with the same markings."
أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: خير الخيل الأدهم الأقرح المحجل الأرثم، طلق اليد اليمنى، فإن لم يكن أدهم فكميت على هذه الشية.
Ibn Majah (2789) narrated it, and this is his wording, as did Tirmidhi (1697) and Hakim (2/92), through two routes from Wahb bin Jareer, who said, my father narrated to us, saying, I heard Yahya bin Ayub narrating from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Ali bin Rabah, from Abu Qatada Ansari, and he related it.Its chain is hasan because of Yahya bin Ayub Ghafiqi, for his hadith is hasan, and he has been corroborated. Ibn Lahia corroborated him. Ahmad (22561) narrated it from Hasan bin Musa and Yahya bin Ishaq, and Tirmidhi (1696) through the route of Abdullah bin Mubarak, all of them from Ibn Lahia, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, with the same content. Abdullah bin Mubarak is among those who heard from Ibn Lahia before his memory became confused.Tirmidhi said, "This hadith is hasan sahih gharib." Hakim said, "This hadith is gharib sahih, and the two sheikhs relied on all its narrators, but neither of them included it."I say, in its chain is Ali bin Rabah, whom Bukhari did not include in his Sahih, but rather included in Adab al-Mufrad and Khalq Afal Abbad, and he is trustworthy.His saying "adham" means black. His saying "aqrah" refers to one that has a "qurha" (with damma) on its forehead, which is a whiteness smaller than a full blaze. His saying "artham," spelled with ra and tha, refers to one whose nose is white, and likewise its upper lip. His saying "mutlaq al-yamin" means there is no white marking on it. His saying "ala hadhihi ash-shiyah," with kasra on the shin, refers to the color that differs from the predominant color. It contains other unusual words, see their explanation in the chapter on what has been said about the virtue of horses.As for what was narrated from Uqba bin Amir, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If you intend to go on a military expedition, then buy a black horse with a blaze, with white markings on its legs, and with its right foreleg free of any marking, for you will gain spoils and return safely," this is daif.Tabarani narrated it in Kabir (17/293–294), and Hakim (2/92), and from him Bayhaqi (6/330), through the route of Ubayd bin Sabbah, from Musa bin Ali bin Rabah, from his father, from Uqba bin Amir, and he related it. Bayhaqi said, "This is what he said, 'from Uqba bin Amir.'" I say, it seems he is indicating that making this hadith part of the Musnad of Uqba bin Amir is an error, and Allah knows best.As for Hakim, he said, "This hadith is sahih according to the criterion of Muslim, but they did not include it." I say, Ubayd bin Sabbah is not among the narrators of the six books, and he is daif al-hadith, as Abu Hatim said. He has a biography in Lisan Mizan (4/119). Haythami cited this as its defect in Majma (5/262), and Dhahabi in Muhazzab (5/2501).