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The Assassin Legends Myths of the Isma‘ilis Farhad Daftary I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd

The Assassin Legends Myths of the Isma‘ilis Farhad Daftary I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2001. A Reading Guide prepared by Nabila Hussein for the Department of Community Relations, 2014 Farhad Daftary’s The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma‘ilis, seeks to deconstruct the fabricated stories about the Nizari Isma‘ilis as hashish smoking killers, obedient to their leader, the “old man of the mountain”. By charting the origin and evolution of these legends, and investigating the historical circumstances that allowed for their immense popularity, Daftary attempts to reveal these legends as nothing more than “the imaginative constructions of uninformed observers” (p. 7). Building upon popular lore and local polemics, these uninformed observers – particularly the Christian West – created a series of sinister tales about the Persian and Syrian Isma‘ili communities; these tales would remain influential due to their sensational appeal from the time of the First Crusade to the 19th century. Drawing on an array of sources including previously un-translated works, Daftary’s book not only attempts to discredit the Assassin Legends but in doing so seeks to rectify the crude image that has been associated with the Isma‘ili community for over eight centuries. 2 Assassin Legends—A Reading Guide Introduction The book is comprised of an introduction, three interconnected chapters, and an Appendix. After a brief introduction to the aims and ambitions of the book, Dr Daftary’s second chapter provides a concise history of the Isma‘ilis. This chapter sets the historical stage upon which the Assassin Legends were formed. Chapter 3 builds upon the historical survey in chapter 2 and focuses in particular on the interactions between the Europeans and the Isma‘ilis commencing with the Crusaders. It is not until the 4th chapter, after having provided the necessary background and insights, that Dr Daftary comes to the main subject matter of his book, the Assassin Legends. Outlining the various legends and detailing when and how each first appeared, this chapter demonstrates the legends as “fabricated and put into circulation by Europeans,” rather than factual accounts of Isma‘ili practices (p. 7). The Appendix, the final section of the book, is the first English translation of the, “Mèmoire sur la dynastie des Assassins, et sur l’ètymologie de leur Nom” by Silvestre de Sacy, an important 19 th century study of the Isma‘ilis. According to Daftary, de Sacy’s piece finally solved the mystery of the term ‘Assassin’ – a label that had been accepted as synonymous with Isma‘ilis for centuries – and in doing so, made a significant contribution to the renunciation of the Assassin Legends. Guiding Questions 1. Why did the Isma‘ilis of the medieval period contribute so minimally to the refutation of the Assassin Legends? 2. For what reasons did the occidental travellers prefer to exaggerate, and in most instances fabricate, their accounts of the Isma‘ilis rather than attempt a genuine portrayal? 3. Why is an understanding of the historical circumstances under which the Assassin Legends were formed and disseminated of such importance? 4. What are the implications of modern scholarship revising much of what was previously accepted as fact? 5. How significant a role does history play in the construction of communal identity? The Isma‘ilis in History and in Medieval Muslim Writings As is clearly articulated in Daftary’s work, A Short History of the Isma‘ilis, the Isma‘ilis are a community whose history is fraught Nizari Isma‘ili Castles of Iran and Syria 3 Assassin Legends—A Reading Guide with schisms. However, for a multitude of reasons – including geography and deliberate secrecy – many of these divisions were unknown to the Sunni, and larger Shi‘a communities from whom the Isma‘ilis found themselves separated in the mid-8th century. The fact that other Muslim communities were unaware of the subdivisions within the Isma‘iliyya, resulted in their categorising the various Isma‘ili communities as one; this classification had serious and long-term implications. In particular, the Qarmatis, who split from the Isma‘ilis in 899 CE, went on to commit sacrilegious acts – including the stealing of the black stone from the Ka‘ba – which were then attributed to the Isma‘ilis. This act was not only considered profane, but it caused the Abbasids public embarrassment and ultimately resulted in the first Sunni polemics against the Isma‘ilis. A century later, still associating the Isma‘ilis with the Qarmati transgression, the Sunni Abbasids responded to the emergence of the Fatimid Empire in 909 CE, with heightened polemical activity. Most notably, the Sunni polemicists created the “Black Legend”, a tale stating that the Isma‘ili Imams did not truly descend from Imam ‘Ali, but rather that Isma‘ilism was a conspiracy founded to destroy Islam from within (p. 25). This was the first legend to emerge about the Isma‘ilis and the only one intentionally created by other Muslims. As well, great scholars were commissioned by the Abbasid and Seljuk rulers, such as al- Ghazali (d.1111 CE), to write treatises using intellectual arguments, rather than crude accusations, to denounce the Isma‘ilis. In response to these polemics, the Isma‘ilis produced their own treatises which both discussed their distinction from the Qarmatis and provided the details of their beliefs so as to prove the Black Legend fictitious. However, the sensational appeal of the Abbasid accounts coupled with the loss of the Fatimid Isma‘ili texts in 1171 CE, allowed for the vast proliferation of these polemical claims. This situation was to worsen still after 1094 CE with the Nizari-Must‘ali schism within the Isma‘iliyya; this split not only produced internal polemics but ultimately led to the appearance of the Nizari Isma‘ilis (the focus of this work) in Egypt to Iran and Syria. In Iran, to protect themselves from the powerful Seljuks, the Isma‘ilis adopted a “policy of assassination”; a survival strategy where trained Isma‘ilis would eliminate particular religious, political and military adversaries (p. 34).These assassinations inevitably aggravated the ruling Seljuks, as many of the targets were their own men and they responded with further anti-Isma‘ili compositions. However, during this period the Isma‘ilis, confined to the mountains, were struggling to survive; thus, commissioning responses to these polemics was not their priority. In 1164 CE, with the announcement of the Qiyama, the misunderstanding of Isma‘ili identity held by most of the Muslim world was strengthened once again. Understood as the abolishment of shar ‘ia for the Isma‘ilis, the Qiyama was clear proof for other Muslim communities that Isma‘ilis were an “arch- heresy carefully designed to destroy Islam from within” (p. 5). Less than a century after the declaration of the Qiyama, the Mongols arrived in Persia; entering into an environment hostile to the Isma‘ilis, the Mongols unsurprisingly adopted the biases of the visible Muslim majorities. In 1256 CE the Mongols massacred the Isma‘ili community of the Alamut period, damaged their forts, burnt their library and with it destroyed all evidence countering Isma‘ili polemics; thereafter, fearing for their safety, the Isma‘ilis adopted taqiyya until the 19th century. Medieval European Perceptions of Islam and the Isma‘ilis During the medieval period, while the Isma‘ili minority were subject to slander at the hands of the Muslim majority groups, the Christian West began their verbal and physical crusade against Islam. Prior to the Textbox I: Rashid al-Din Sinan (d. 1193 CE) Sinan was the leader of the Isma‘ili Muslim com- munity in Syria during the time of the Crusades. After his first visit to Alamut, in present-day Iran, he was sent by the then Imam, Hasan Ala Dhikrihi al-Salam to Syria to serve the Isma‘ili community there. 4 Assassin Legends—A Reading Guide Crusades, and perhaps integral to their commencement, the European view of Muslims was one of disdain; they believed that Muslim expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate into Spain, and Muslim presence in the holy land (of Palestine) was an encroachment onto Christian territory. Moreover, for many Christian scholars, “Muhammad was the Anti-Christ and the rise of Islam heralded the imminent end of the world” (p. 51). Thus the initial rationale behind the Crusades was to reclaim Christian lands from a people they had identified as synonymous with their Biblical enemies, the “Saracens”. Prior to the Crusades, the Christians were unfamiliar with the various divisions of Islam. However, by the end of the first Crusade (1096-1099 CE) and with the creation of Frankish states in Outremer, what could previously have been ascribed to naivety became strategic ignorance. During the 12 th and early 13 th centuries, those who lived in the Frankish states, amidst various groups of Muslims, began to have economic and social relations with the so- called “Saracens”, including Salahuddin Ayyubi and the Isma‘ili da‘i Rashid al-Din Sinan. Through these interactions, the Crusaders and various occidental scholars, began to see the Muslims as several distinct communities and most importantly, as communities that were civilised adherents to a monotheistic faith. However, as Dr Daftary says of the occidental chronicler William of Tyre: “[His] main objective was to show that the Crusade was a holy war against the Saracen infidels, and that its triumphs were, therefore Gesta Dei per Francos, divine deeds done through the Franks” (p. 56). Thus, William of Tyre, like most other chroniclers of the uploads/s3/ assassin-legends-for-website-v2-1-pdf.pdf