Assassin from hashish? Hah!

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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Staff Report: “Assassin from hashish”

This is another one of those fake etymology scams that have always been popular, but how have a medium of faster transit. (See also: for unlawful carnal knowledge, etc.) This site says it most eloquently: http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/etymolAss.html

A few points not mentioned by that site: The maintenance of such a paradise would be prohibitively expensive in the water-poor region of Persia, an expense that could not likely be spared by a threadbare troop of assassins. Second, religious fanatics have always recruited without difficulty those willing to die for them (cf. September 11; no paradise needed), especially in hard times. Ibn-al-Sabbah gave people a reason to hope that they (or their sons) could reach paradise in the (supposed) service of Allah, which is a recruiting technique that has not been lost on Hamas, Al Qaeda, and other such groups (that are certainly not limited to al-Islam). Third, the twelfth century was a time of upheaval for al-Islam: the first Crusade had recently disrupted the area, and al-Islam was going through caliphs every few years. Those with strong religious convictions (like Ibn-al-Sabbah and his followers) would be even more ready than usual to help clean up the mess that they perceived al-Islam to be.

One needn’t resort to hashish to explain the devotion of Ibn-al-Sabbah’s followers, nor to explain the word “assassin,” and frankly, I’m disappointed to see such a thing posted on the Straight Dope.

I have edited to stick in a link to the Staff Report being commented on… and to fix Saintp’s link (much thanks to Bromley, see below.) – CK Dexter Haven, Moderator

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The Staff Report did not say that the original “assassins” actually maintained such a paradise, or that they recruited members using hashish. What the Staff Report said was that enemies of the group spread rumors that they did, and the rumors grew so prevalent that they began to be called “hashish users” by most folks.

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Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, saintp, glad to have you here.

When you start a topic, it is helpful to others if you provide a link to the Staff Report that you are commenting on – helps everyone stay on the same page, so to speak. Since there is a post after yours, I have taken the liberty of inserting a link in your post so that the link is there at the top, rather than three posts down into the thread.

In any case, welcome again.

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saintp’s link dropped an “l”. Should be

http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/etymolAss.html

Link fixed – C K Dexter Haven, moderator.

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For those of you ready to give up on ever finding a link that works, try this :slight_smile: .

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Thanks much, Bromley, I have gone back up and fixed the links. Good detective work!

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Chronos said the basics correctly. If you read the original article, it uses language that indicates much is in dispute.

You, saintp assert that assassin doesn’t pass into English from Hashishiyya. It probably does. And there is less evidence that it was from “a follower of Hassan.”