10 replies to this topic

[Abu 3antar]

One of the most mysterious group throughout history was the "Hassassins" or more commonly known "Assassins". Some praise them as fighters against oppressors, i.e the Ayyubids, Crusader and Abbasids, while other see them as a group of murderers. Some will even go as far as stating they were the first terrorist group ever created.

I found out about them when I was studying religion in school, my class watched a documentary about the Ummah of the middle ages. Oddly enough the narrator called the Umayyads fair and accepting while the Ismaili Shia Assassins were seen as the first ever terrorist group. Apparently Marco Polo visited the Assassins and said that the only reason so many young men could be so fearless of death would be because of drugs, obviously in our age we've seen young Shias not afraid of death because of their faith and not because of drugs.

Does anyone have some interesting information about this group?

Thanks.

[MysticKnight]

Play Assassin's creed, therein lies your answer. (I'm joking)

[Gypsy]

http://www.shiachat....ot-of-assassin/

[samarobin0]

I just heard something about this yesterday.. a friend of mine said that they were called 'hassassins' due to their relationship with hashish. Thru word of mouth people started talking about 'the ones who smoke hashish to be called hashishians then later thru the grapevine turned into hassassins and then just to assassins..

As i said though, its just what I heard and was thinking about this today too.. If anyone can find any good sources of info on this I''d like to knooooow

[Marbles]

samarobin0, on 02 July 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

I just heard something about this yesterday.. a friend of mine said that they were called 'hassassins' due to their relationship with hashish. Thru word of mouth people started talking about 'the ones who smoke hashish to be called hashishians then later thru the grapevine turned into hassassins and then just to assassins..

As i said though, its just what I heard and was thinking about this today too.. If anyone can find any good sources of info on this I''d like to knooooow

It may have been derived from hashish given that at a certain time in history one of their Imams declared "Qiyamah" and allowed what was prohibited like alcohol and other intoxicants. But this association is apocryphal and based on speculation, especially the Assassin lore made famous by Orientalist scholarship which was largely based on myth and not reality.

[ילדת מלך]

wasn't that cult founded by Hassan bin Sabah ?---or my temperamental memory is misbehaving again ?

[Marbles]

ילדת מלך, on 02 July 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

wasn't that cult founded by Hassan bin Sabah ?---or my temperamental memory is misbehaving again ?

Yes, it was him. He did not found it as such because Ismailis in Persia were already assassinating important Sunnis before Hassan Sabah assumed leadership position or even converted to Ismailiyah. He was, however, instrumental in organising the Ismailis in Persia and became their leader after they (the Ismailis) split into two factions in 1092. Those in Egypt came to be known as Mustali and those in Persia were called Nizaris.

Assassins was neither a cult per se nor it was founded in the proper sense of the word.

[ילדת מלך]

Marbles, on 02 July 2012 - 04:58 PM, said:

Yes, it was him. He did not found it as such because Ismailis in Persia were already assassinating important Sunnis before Hassan Sabah assumed leadership position or even converted to Ismailiyah. He was, however, instrumental in organising the Ismailis in Persia and became their leader after they (the Ismailis) split into two factions in 1092. Those in Egypt came to be known as Mustali and those in Persia were called Nizaris.

Assassins was neither a cult per se nor it was founded in the proper sense of the word.

Cool,

impressed by this sleek presentation of knowledge,

PS----I used the word cult because I did not know what other word to use for them,

Which side did they fight for Marble ? for crusaders or what, or they followed some of their own twisted agenda. God, I am trying to remember and memory is slipping me, I read something about weed and stuff, though I am not sure weed and Hash is the same thing or what ?

Edited by ילדת מלך, 02 July 2012 - 05:10 PM.

[Marbles]

ילדת מלך, on 02 July 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Cool,

impressed by this sleek presentation of knowledge,

PS----I used the word cult because I did not know what other word to use for them,

Which side did they fight for Marble ? for crusaders or what, or they followed some of their own twisted agenda. God, I am trying to remember and memory is slipping me, I read something about weed and stuff, though I am not sure weed and Hash is the same thing or what ?

Their foremost enemy was Sunni Islam. They sought to overthrow, in their perception, the unjust and illegal rulers of the Muslim world (since the right to rule was solely a prerogative of the Imam) and used highly trained assassins to kill them. Every Sunni ruler and divine of note was their potential target. When their survival was threatened at a later stage of their history in Persia, they tried to ally themselves with the invading Mongols against the Sunni regime(s) of Persia. This didn't work and Mongols captured their stronghold in Alamut and driven them out to four corners. A sizable community appeared in Syria during their ascent in Persia. They battled against invading Crusaders when it suited them and, when it was more convenient and productive, allied themselves with Crusader princes to fight local Sunnis rulers (such as Salah-ud-Din Ayyubi).

The myth of hashish, in all probability, is an Orientalist invention. This reference first appeared in Crusader tales narrated by footsoldiers who returned to Europe after fighting. The story goes like this: There is a massive fortress in Eastern Syria ruled by an Ismaili 'prince' under whose command there is a large contingent of fanatical followers. They swear blind allegiance to their ruler so much so that they jump off the cliff to their deaths if ordered by their leader. The leader makes them drink some strange substance under the spell of which they leave the fortress and accomplish their task (of murdering so and so).

The question is: How those chosen assassins performed almost perfect murders if they were drugged into obedience? All reports of such assassinations attest that the killers were fully in their senses and knew what they were doing. Moreover, there is no backup for these stories in local histories which were written by Sunni historians known to have demonised Ismailis in every possible way. It would have been easy for them to pick these tales had there been an element of truth in them. Allahu Aalam.

[Shiabro]

The assassins were the only group who retaliated against the Sunnis and the rulers then. It began as a secret order. They were fed up by the oppression and had a deep contempt and hatred against Sunnis. I don't know if it was just a tribe or if they took every Ismaili Shia into their order. They carried out deadly attacks against the ruling clans. They also had great scientists. But finally they perished.
There are 3 books with a lot of information:
-The Secret Order of Assassins by Marshall G. S. Hodgson
and
-The Assassins by Bernard Lewis
and another approach(maybe the most accurate one):
-The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma'Ilis by Farhad Daftary

Edited by Shiabro, 04 July 2012 - 06:22 AM.

[Abu 3antar]

Shiabro, on 04 July 2012 - 06:17 AM, said:

The assassins were the only group who retaliated against the Sunnis and the rulers then. It began as a secret order. They were fed up by the oppression and had a deep contempt and hatred against Sunnis. I don't know if it was just a tribe or if they took every Ismaili Shia into their order. They carried out deadly attacks against the ruling clans. They also had great scientists. But finally they perished.
There are 3 books with a lot of information:
-The Secret Order of Assassins by Marshall G. S. Hodgson
and
-The Assassins by Bernard Lewis
and another approach(maybe the most accurate one):
-The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma'Ilis by Farhad Daftary

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely look those books up.