“If anyone of us ever manages to get access to power, vow that it’ll be his duty, for his life, to help the other two, if they are in need.”
This promise, made amongst three mere teenagers was probably the reason for the rise of the most terrifying cult in Islamic history, “Al-Hasheesheen.” Headed of course, by their spiritual leader, one of the three teenagers who made the vow, “Hassan-bin-Sabaah.” or as depicted in popular culture as Hassan-e Sabbāh, The other two, Nizam Al-Mulk Toosi and Umar Khayyam did manage to get their fair share of Fame, too. But Hassan stood where none could ever have thought of.
Hassan was of Persian descent, born in the year 1050 in Qum, Iran. Hassan’s Father was a Shia Muslim and followed the Isma’ili jurisprudence in particular. But the viewpoint of the people of the city was not in favor of the Isma’ilis, and they were often referred to as “Firqa Batiniyyah.” The Seljuk Sultanate, who ruled over the major part of the Muslim world at that time, were Sunnis and strictly prohibited any activities by the Isma’ili mission. Hassan’s Father, Ali bin Muhammad kept his faith secret for as long as he could. But unluckily, got exposed and the ruler of the city exiled him.
They then moved to the city, “Rayy.” Hassan was just a mere child then, and had no idea about what were the motives of the secret cult, “Firqa Batiniyyah.” But one thing about him was always prominent, he was just extraordinarily intelligent.
Hassan was homeschooled until his early teens, learning palmistry, mathematics, languages, philosophy, and astronomy. At the age of thirteen, he started getting further education from an Isma’ili missionary named “Abdul Malik-bin-Attash. Attash taught him the conventional subjects, but as it was Hassan’s interest, he was also taught hypnotism and black magic. His teacher, Ibn-e-Attash once said, “The twinkle in your eyes, boy, I bet you’ll either be a saint, or you’ll become the worst villain this world will ever see.” It was due to Ibn-e-Attash, that Hassan developed a soft corner for Isma’ilism and this was the beginning of it all, this was the beginning of a new terror streak. And the world was nowhere near ready!
In his teenage, Hassan became familiar with the views and ideology of the Isma’ili Shia sect and converted from the conventional “Isna Ashariyyah” to an Isma’ili.
The Ismāʿīlī (/ˌɪsmeɪˈɪli/) get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma’il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja’far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelvers who accept Musa al-Kadhim, younger brother of Isma’il, as the true Imām.
Ismailism rose at one point to become the largest branch of Shī‘ism, climaxing as a political power with the Fatimid Caliphate in the tenth through the twelfth centuries. Ismailis believe in the oneness of God, as well as the closing of divine revelation with Muhammad, whom they see as “the final Prophet and Messenger of God to all humanity”. The Ismāʿīlī and the Twelvers both accept the same initial Imams.
After the death of Muhammad ibn Isma’il in the 8th century CE, the teachings of Ismailism further transformed into the belief system as it is known today, with an explicit concentration on the deeper, esoteric meaning (batin) of the Islamic religion. With the eventual development of Twelverism into the more literalistic (zahir) oriented Akhbari and later Usuli schools of thought, Shi’i Islam developed into two separate directions: the metaphorical Ismaili group focusing on the mystical path and nature of God, with the “Imām of the Time” representing the manifestation of esoteric truth and intelligible reality, with the more literalistic Twelver group focusing on divine law (sharia) and the deeds and sayings (sunnah) of Muhammad and the Twelve Imams who guided and a light to God.
So, Hassan capitalized on that and used the weakness of people’s faith to his advantage. Being a trickster himself, Hassan used illusions to convince people that he was Imam of the time, later claiming Prophethood and ultimately claiming divinity. He paved his way to the court of the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate, due to them being Nizari Ismailis, but soon the Caliph expatriated him because he knew that Hassan-e Sabbāh was a threat to his Caliphate. From there, Hassan chose to turn to an old friend, his class fellow, and the prime minister of the Seljuk Sultanate, the center of power of the Islamic World. Nizam had no issue in accepting his friend into the court, owing to the above-mentioned promise that was made between the three friends. Hassan, on the other hand, took advantage of the opportunity and started gathering insight into the interior affairs of the Sultanate. It was then, that the evil genius found the place which would work just perfect as his headquarters, the Castle of Alamut.
In 1088 he found the castle of Alamut in the Rudbar area (modern Qazvin, Iran).[citation needed] It was a fort that stood guard over a valley that was about fifty kilometers long and five kilometers wide.[citation needed] This fortress had been built about the year 865; legend has it that it was built by a king who saw his eagle fly up to and perch upon a rock, a propitious omen, the importance of which this king, Wah Sudan ibn Marzuban, understood. Likening the perching of the eagle to a lesson given by it, he called the fort Aluh Amut: the “Eagles’ Teaching”.
Hassan’s takeover of the fort was conducted without any significant bloodshed. To effect this transition Al-Sabbah employed a patient and deliberate strategy, one which took the better part of two years to effect. First Hassan sent his Daʻiyyīn and Rafīks to win over the villages in the valley, and their inhabitants. Next, key people amongst this populace were converted, and finally, in 1090, Hassan took over the fort by infiltrating it with his converts. Hassan gave the former owner a draft drawn on the name of a wealthy landlord and told him to obtain the promised money from this man; when the landlord saw the draft with Hassan’s signature, he immediately paid the amount to the fort’s owner, astonishing him. Another, probably apocryphal version of the takeover states that Hassan offered 3000 gold dinars to the fort’s owner for the amount of land that would fit a buffalo’s hide. The terms having been agreed upon, Hassan cut the hide into strips and linked them into a large ring around the perimeter of the fort, whose owner was thus undone by his own greed.
While legend holds that after capturing Alamut, Hassan thereafter devoted himself so faithfully to study, that in the nearly 35 years he was there he never left his quarters, excepting only two times when he went up to the roof. This reported isolation is highly doubtful, given his extensive recruiting and organizational involvement in the growing Ismā’īlī insurrections in Persia and Syria. Nonetheless, Hassan-e Sabbāh was highly educated and was known for austerity, studying, translating, praying, fasting, and directing the activities of the Daʻwa: the propagation of the Nizarī doctrine was headquartered at Alamut. He knew the Qur’ān by heart, could quote extensively from the texts of most Muslim sects, and apart from philosophy, was well versed in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, medicine, architecture, and the major scientific disciplines of his time. In a major departure from tradition, Hassan declared Persian to be the language of holy literature for Nizaris, a decision that resulted in all the Nizari Ismā’īlī literature from Persia, Syria, Afghanistan and Central Asia to be transcribed in Persian for several centuries.
And the next stage brings in front of us one of the most dangerous cults in human history, “Al-Hasheesheen.” Known in the western world by the name “Assassin,” these people were the suicide bombers of the olden days, used by Hassan, “Old man of the mountain,” to get rid of important pillars of the Caliphate. Why they were so willing to lay there lives for Hassan, is due to the fact that an herb, “Hasheesh,” was given to them on a regular basis, which made there mind numb. History tells us that a man chosen to become an Assassin was given a heavy dose of Hasheesh one night, and moved to the Castle of Alamut, where stood the “Heaven on Earth.” The man upon waking up would face beautiful women, in erotic dresses surrounding him with all kinds of food and drinks one could ever think of. The person was to be kept until he had no doubt left of him being in Heaven, not to look over the fact that all his food and drinks were tampered with Hasheesh. And then on another day, the person would be given another heavy dose and upon waking up would find himself back on Earth. This was the desire which leads to loads and loads of men, ready to lay their lives at the blink of an eye, the Fidayin, the real power of Hassan.
The first victim of the Hasheesheen was Nizam Al-Toosi, the then prime minister of the Sultanate. And after that, the Hasheesheen felt unstoppable. Every day an important person from the authority would perish at the hands of this organization, and in the northern region of Iran, Hassan’s popularity was increasing day by day. When the Sultanate ultimately did decide to send an army to demolish Alamut, Ibn-i-Sabah didn’t even bother. Narrations describe to us that the evil genius did go on to the roof of the Castle, and simply addressed the Seljuk Army, telling them in plain words, “return to where you’ve come from!” And just like, a while army walked back to the capital as if they were all in a trance. Tensions were beginning to rise in the Islamic world, because the orthodox were against to behemoth false flags, them being the Fatimids and the Hasheesheen. But the Hasheesheen were far more troublesome. The increasing threat caused the people to lock themselves up in their houses because every now and then, they saw a weird lad, asking for help and upon approaching, would take out a crescent-shaped dagger and stab the victim right in the heart. Not stopping, the person, obviously, an assassin would stab his own heart by the same dagger hoping to go back to the heaven of the old man of the mountain.
Eventually, Hassan Bin Sabbah, after striking fear in the hearts of so many innocent people, and leading thousands astray, died on the 12th of June, 1124, in the castle of Alamut. But the movement didn’t stop, as successors upon successors kept coming, and thousands if not millions of people, Lord or commoner alike kept getting killed.
The castle, on the other hand, didn’t survive long and was destroyed in 1256 by Mongol Invaders, to whom Rukn-ud-Din Khurshah surrendered the castle.
And the cult assembled, couldn’t remain a cohesive unit, and eventually was decided into several branches and consequently got forgotten by the modern world.
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