Hassan-i-Sabah
From Freepedia
Hassan-i-Sabbah (in Persian ; بن صباح or حسن صباح ) (circa 1034 - 1124), or "The Old Man of the Mountain", was an Iranian Ismaili missionary who converted a community in the late 11th century in the heart of the Elburz Mountains of northern Iran. The place was called Alamut and was attributed to an ancient king of Daylam. When Hassan discovered Alamut in the late 11th Century, it was in the hands of a Seljuk subject. Hassan prepared the takeover of the castle by secretly converting its staff. With the household on his side, he was smuggled into the castle and began to establish his rule at Alamut. When the castle's residents realized they were no longer in control it was too late. Hassan graciously allowed the former tenant leave of his castle in addition to a draft of 3,000 silver dinars in payment for the castle. From this point on his community and its branches spread throughout Iran and Syria and came to be called Hashshashin or Hashshishin or Assassins, an Islamic mystery cult.
Hassan was extremely strict and disciplined. The abrogation of Islamic law (sharia) occurred under a later Grand Master, Hassan II, in 1174. If hashish was used by the community (and this is uncertain) it probably also occurred later. There is dispute as to whether the term 'Assassin' means 'user of hashish' or 'follower of Hassan'.
Not much is known about Hassan, but legends abound as to the tactics used to induct members into his quasi-religious political organization. A future assassin was subjected to rites very 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 Sabbah was a representative of the divinity and that all of his orders should be followed, even to death. This legend derives from Marco Polo, who visited Alamut just after it fell to the Mongols in the thirteenth century. Other accounts of the indoctrination attest that the future assassins were brought to Alamut at a young age and, while they matured, inhabited the aforementioned paradisial gardens and were kept drugged with hashish; as in the previous version, Hassan 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.
Hasan i Sabbah was born Hassan Bin Ali Bin Muhammad Bin Ja'fr Bin Hussain Bin Muhammad al Sabbah al Hameeri in Re, Iran. He belonged to the tribe of al Hameer from Yemen. His ancestors were all Asna Asheri Shiites, but Hassan under the influence of Ismaili friends or probably a physician converted to Ismaili Shiism. The Paradise or "Firdous e Bareen" was the brainchild of Hassan Bin Sabbah, which was used to literally 'forge' Hashshishin, his most lethal weapon. He died on 26 Rabi utthani 518 Hijri in his abode, Alamut.
The famous novel Firdous e Bareen written by Indian Muslim novelist Abdul Halim Sherer gives the biographical account of Hussain, a youth lured and captured by Hassan's men and then forced into his assassination machinery.
The cult was responsible for the assassination of a number of Sunni scholars and rulers. Non-lethal warnings could also be given, whereby a target would wake to find a dagger embedded in his pillow next to his head. They usually took the hint.
The Assassins often allied with the Crusaders against the Sunnis. The Aga Khan is said to be the spiritual successor to the order - in terms of leadership, not methods!
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Hassan in music
A concept album called Hashisheen: The End of Law was released in 1998. The album consists of a series of ancient mystical Islamic poems and writings set to modern music and features various artists, poets and writers including William Burroughs, Iggy Pop, Hakim Bey and Genesis P. Orridge. The texts used are a mixture of hashish poems and mystical texts conerning the divine nature; also featured is the account of Alamut by Marco Polo.
There is also a now-defunct screamo band called Hassan I Sabbah. They were active around 2000-2001, and released a 7" on Robodog Records and a split 7" with Usurp Synapse. Their drummer is now in Unearth.
The 1977 Recording "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" by Hawkwind features a song titled "Hassan I Sahba"
Hassan in popular culture
William S. Burroughs is one of a number of fiction writers who have incorporated Sabbah--himself or his ideas--in their work.
Hassan i Sabbah X (the tenth in the line) appears as a Sufi mystic, alias Franklin Delano Roosevelt Stuart, in the Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson.
The serpent king in the film Conan The Barbarian bears many similarities to the legendary Hassan, notably in the scene where acolytes commit suicide as a demonstration that 'flesh is stronger than steel'. Hassan reportedly demanded (and got) the same sacrifice as a demonstration of his power, when one follower slit his own throat and another leapt from the battlements of Alamut.
See also
External links
- The life of Hassan-i-Sabah from an Ismaili point of view. Focuses on assassination as a tactic of asymmetrical warfare and has a small section on Hasan-i-Sabah's work as a scholar.
- The life of Hassan-i-Sabbah as part of a online book on the Assassins of Alamut.
- Arkon Daraul on Hassan-i-Sabbah.
- An illustrated article on the Order of Assassins.
- William S. Burrough's invocation of Hassan-i-Sabbah in Nova Express.
