# Assassin from hashish? Hah! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 30, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579 "2002-07-30T19:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saintp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@saintp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saintp)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/1 "2002-07-30T19:05:50Z")
Staff Report: [“Assassin from hashish”](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/massassin.html) 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](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 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/2 "2002-07-30T21:17:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/3 "2002-07-30T21:50:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/4 "2002-08-01T05:50:16Z")
saintp’s link dropped an “l”. Should be [http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/etymolAss.html](http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/etymolAss.html) * * * Link fixed – C K Dexter Haven, moderator. ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/5 "2002-08-02T13:14:57Z")
For those of you ready to give up on ever finding a link that works, try [this](http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/etymolAss.html) 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/6 "2002-08-02T15:49:37Z")
Thanks much, Bromley, I have gone back up and fixed the links. Good detective work! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassin-from-hashish-hah/121579/7 "2002-08-04T19:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. **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.”