The
Hashshashin (also
Hashishin,
Hashashiyyin or
Assassins) was a
religious sect (often referred to as a
cult) of
Ismaili Muslims from the
Nizari sub-sect. They had a militant basis which was employed in various political or religious purposes. They were thought to be active in the
8th to
14th centuries. This
mystic secret society specialized in
terrorising the
Abbasid elite with fearlessly executed, politically motivated
assassinations. The word "assassin" is derived from their name. Their own name for the
sect was
al-da'wa al-jadīda (الدعوةالجديدة) which means
the new doctrine. They called themselves
fedayeen from the
Arabic fidā'ī, which means
one who is ready to sacrifice their life for a cause.
Their Muslim contemporaries were extremely suspicious of them; in fact they were described using the terms
Batini. The term was used pejoratively to refer to those, especially Ismaili, who distinguished an inner, esoteric level of meaning (batin) in the Qur'an. This constant religious estrangement would eventually see them go so far as allying with the Occidental Christians against Muslims on a number of occasions. Their connections to mainstream Islam were tangential at best.
Legends abound as to the tactics used to induct members into what became a quasi-religious political organization. A future assassin was subjected to rites similar to those of other mystery cults in which the subject was made to believe that he was in imminent danger of death. But the twist of the assassins was that they drugged the person to simulate a "dying" to later have them awaken in a garden flowing with wine and served a sumptuous feast by virgins. The supplicant was then convinced he was in Heaven and that the cult's leader,
Hassan-i-Sabah, was a representative of the divinity and that all of his orders should be followed, even unto death. This legend derives from
Marco Polo, who visited
Alamut after it fell to the Mongols in the thirteenth century.
Other accounts of the cult's indoctrination attest that the future assassins were brought to Alamut at a young age and, while they matured, inhabited the aforementioned paradisaic gardens and were kept drugged with hashish; as in the previous version,
Hassan-i-Sabah occupied this garden as a divine emissary. At a certain point (when their initiation could be said to have begun) the drug was withdrawn from them, and they were removed from the gardens and flung into a dungeon. There they were informed that, if they wished to return to the paradise they had so recently enjoyed it would be at Sabbah's discretion, and that they must therefore follow his directions exactly, up to and including murder and self-sacrifice.
The group transformed the act of murder into a system directed largely against
Seljuk Muslim rulers who had been persecuting their sect. They were meticulous in killing the targeted individual, seeking to do so without any additional
casualties and innocent loss of life, although they were careful to cultivate their terrifying reputation by slaying their victims in public, often in
mosques. Typically they approached using a disguise; their
weapon of choice was a
dagger, rejecting
poison,
bows and other weapons that allowed the attacker to escape. For unarmed combat, the Hashshashin practiced a fighting style called
Janna which incorporates striking techniques, grappling and low kicks. However, under no circumstances did they commit
suicide, preferring to be killed by their captors.
There are also, possibly apocryphal, stories that they used their well-known deadliness for political goals without necessarily killing. For example, a victim, usually high-placed, might one morning find a Hashshashin dagger lying on their pillow upon awakening. This was a plain hint to the targeted individual that he was safe nowhere, that maybe even his inner group of servants had been infiltrated by the cult, and that whatever course of action had brought him into conflict with them would have to be stopped if he wanted to live.
I follow gaming news pretty closely and had never heard about any sci-fi. Maybe UbiSoft was going to release this information soon, since I doubt an actress - no matter how ditzy - would ever risk damaging a product in this blunt of a way. If it is the case that she was dumb/crazy enough to spoil what would have been a shocking storyline turn then Ubisoft should bukkake this person.
