The Discovery of the Assassins


That's the title of the first chapter of an obscure little book entitled, "The Assassins: A Radical Cult in Islam." Assassins is a word derived from hashish. The author, Bernard Lewis, begins in 1332, when King Philip VI of France is planning a crusade. He calls in a German priest named Brocardus, who had spent time in Armenia.

Brocardus is there is advise of the peculiar hazards of the Middle East. Among the chief dangers, he names, "the Assassins, who are to be cursed and fled. They sell themselves, are thirsty for human blood, kill the innocent for a price, and care nothing for either life or salvation. Like the devil, they transfigure themselves into angels of light, by imitating the gestures, garments, languages, customs and acts of various nations and peoples; thus, hidden in sheep's clothing, they suffer death as soon as they are recognized.

"Since indeed I have not seen them, but know this of them only by repute or by true writings, I cannot reveal more, nor give fuller information. I cannot show how to recognize them by their customs or any other signs, for in these things they are unknown to me as to others also; nor can I show how to apprehend them by their name, for so execrable is their profession, and so abominated by all, they they conceal thier own names as much as they can. I therefore know only one single remedy for the safeguarding and protection of the king, that in all the royal household, for whatever service, however small or brief or mean, none should be admitted, save those whose country, place lineage, condition and person are certainly, fully and clearly known."

Every time I read another exploratory article about changing the Constitution to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for President, I think of the following story from "The Assassins."

Sinan, the greatest of all the assassin chiefs of Syria, sent a messenger to a Sultan named Saladin, and ordered him to deliver the message in private. Saladin had him searched and when he was clean had most of the staff dismissed. He asked him to deliver his message, but Sinan's man said, "I have been ordered to deliver it only in private." So Saladin sent away everybody except two Mamluks, and said, "These two do not leave me. If you wish, deliver the message, if not, return."

The messenger said, "Why do you not send away these two as you sent away the others?"

Saladin said, "I regard them as my sons, and they and I are as one."

The messenger turned to the two Mamluks and said, "If I ordered you in the name of my master to kill this Sultan, would you do so?"

They answered yes, drew their swords, and said, "Command us as you wish."

The messenger left, taking the two with him. But his master Sinan had no further trouble with the Sultan in the way of getting his tribute paid.

The Assassins constitute a part of the Arab world, sort of like the CIA wet works is part of our own. They belong to the Ismaili sect, an offshoot of the Shi'a, "whose quarrel with the Sunnis was the major religious schism in Islam." On May 19, 1809, Silvestre de Sacy, the greatest Arabic scholar of his time, "read a memoir to the Institut de France on the dynasty of the assassins and the etymololgy of their name."

He showed conclusively that it came from "Hashish." The leaders of the sect, it is thought, used hashish in secret ceremonies, to train the assassin. Reportedly, Hassan i'Sabbah had a "paradise," set up, with beautiful women and gardens and art, and would tell the assassins in training that if they died in his service, they would go to this paradise.

Joseph Von Hammer published a history of the assassins in 1833, in which he compared them with the Templars, Jesuits, Illuminati, and the Freemasons.

Great armies were poised against the assassins, but they could not move, because the assassins, though small in number, had developed the fine art of putting one of their own close to the heart of government. When a person has only one ambition, he does not stray off course. He can display all of the most prized talents and attitudes sought by those with power. Loyalty, steadfastness, courage, unwavering service, are all qualities of the assassin who must position himself for his destiny.

I love the thought of Arnold the Terminator being a hit man raised by Nazi sympathizers to become a Superman in the West, stay focused, and become a symbol of the Master Race, until at last he makes it to the vice-presidential slot.

"Who's that? Is that you Arnold."

"Yes George. I noticed at dinner you seemed to have a sore neck."

"Well, yea, ..."

"Let me adjust it for you ..."

"No ... don't touch me. I don't like to be touched."

"What's wrong?"

"I miss my Dick."

"The Haliburton sleeze factor was like kudzu vine, you had to dump him and get a movie star on the ticket or lose the momentum of the revolution. Who would vote for the reality?"

"I still think Reagan could have handled the VP slot. It isn't like we'd leave him alone to wander off ..."

"He is the past. I am za future. Now I am, as they say, just a heartbeat away from control of the military might of the western world."

"Yea. well. Memories are made of this. Or a blank space. You just never know."

"Yea. Let me adjust your neck."

"Will it hurt?"

"How would I know this?"

Posted: Thu - February 26, 2004 at 06:54 PM