The Nizari (Assassins)
https://www.humanreligions.info/assassins.html
By Vexen Crabtree 2026
Founded in Persia (Iran) in 1090CE1,2. After the death of the Shi'ite Caliph of the Fatimid empire, Nizar was the heir but his younger brother al-Musta'li gained the empire. Nizar and his supporters were ousted and formed a secretive3 and defensive radical sect1, headquartered in a fortress in Persia. They became known for their campaign of assassinations of political enemies3 as they tried to prepare the Muslim world "for the coming of the Mahdi (or Messiah) who would create the conditions for an earthly paradise"2. Their activity was so prominent in the 11th-13th centuries3 that they generated the English word for someone who fulfils a directed murder, an assassination.
Also known as the Fidayeen (devoted ones). Aside from resisting the Fatimid empire, they also fought against Christian crusaders in what are now Syria and Iran1.
1. Founding
#fatmid_empire #islam #musta'li #nazari
Following the death of the Shi'ite Fatimid Caliph and Isma'ili Imam al-Mustansir Billah in 1094CE, of his two sons, Nizar was the natural heir (as the oldest), but the powerful al-Afdal Shahanshah official backed the younger son, al-Musta'li, and installed him as Imam and Caliph, leading to a schism that saw the forming of the radical Nizari sect1 and the Musta'li denomination, which gained the empire.
After the Nizaris were denied power and influence, they had to form a secretive3 and defensive society. They became known for their extremism3, fortified mountain strongholds (like Alamut in Persia) and their campaign of assassinations of political enemies3, especially the Musta'li denomination which had stolen the Fatimid empire from them.
Their aim was to prepare the Muslim world for a new spiritual millennium1; "for the coming of the Mahdi (or Messiah) who would create the conditions for an earthly paradise where both law and oppression would disappear"2.
2. Sacred Assassination Acts
“Violence for the Assassins was a sacramental act: a divine duty, commanded by religious text and communicated by clerical authorities. [... If killed, the assassin would] ascend immediately to a glorious heaven.”
"Inside Terrorism" by Bruce Hoffman (1998)1
Their activity was so prominent and consistent in the 11th-13th centuries3 that they generated the English word for someone who fulfils a directed murder. They would often find employment near their future victims, and await orders for the right time to stab them in the back. "They were sent one by one by their leader, the Grand Master, to kill individuals with a dagger"3 and "carried out their targeted assassinations knowing that they would be killed by their captors, and were not allowed to commit suicide"3. Although now used in all contexts, it was a specifically religious affair, and in medieval Christianity describing someone as an 'assassin' meant that they were full of devotion for God.
“The Assassins [were] a movement whose mission was to reconstruct the Muslim world and to prepare the way for the coming of the Mahdi (or Messiah) who would create the conditions for an earthly paradise where both law and oppression would disappear. [Their murders] were prescribed by religious ritual. The victims were assassinated in public places. The weapon was always "a dagger; never poison, never missiles - though there must have been occasions when those would have been easier and safer. [The assailant] is almost always caught, and usually indeed makes no attempt to escape; there is even a suggestion that to survive a mission was shameful. [...] The successful Assassin who lost his life secured a place in paradise [as per] Muslim doctrine concerning the heavenly reward for those who fall in a Holy War. [...] Mohammad himself 'encouraged' assassination several times and provided, therefore, a moral warrant for the practice. Indeed, a tradition of millenarian Islamic sects dedicated to assassination tactics existed, and the Nizari were simply the latest, the most thorough, and the most successful.”
"Religion and Terror: Thugs, Assassins, and Zealots"
David C. Rapoport (1990)2
3. Modern Nizari, Under Aga Khan
The organized assassins were wiped out during assaults by Mongol invasions, and they lost their fortresses and mini-state during various battles 1256-1272CE. But they survived in India under a series of Imams, under whom they shed their political agendas and murderous strategy. In modern times, led by their current Imam, Aga Khan IV, who is a prominent philanthropist and advocate for development through the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the community emphasizes ijtihad (independent reasoning), and their interpretation of Islam is deeply spiritual, ethical, and humanitarian.