Of hashish and assassination
Is there a connection between the consumption of hashish (cannabis) and assassination? I first came across this connection in 1984 in a book entitled A Criminal History of Mankind – at that time it was still politically correct to say ‘mankind’ – by Colin Wilson.
Wilson tells the story of Hasan bin Sabah, or as he is known in history the Old Man of the Mountain, who, in the 12th century, controlled a large area in Persia.
Hasan bin Sabah is reputed to have organised the first group of terrorists.
I quote ad verbatim what Wilson wrote about these people. “The Old Man of the Mountain was called Hasan bin Sabah and it was through him that the word ‘assassin’ entered the European vocabulary. It is derived from ‘hashishim’, for it was widely believed that his followers nerved themselves to kill – and be killed – by smoking hashish.”
Another time I encountered this connection was recently in the book The Templars History and Myth by Michael Haag, which was published in 2009. In his book, Haag gives a list of those assassinated by the assassins, both Muslim and Christian, among them Conrad, King of Jerusalem. They even attempted to kill Saladin himself.
Again, I quote ad verbatim what Haag had to say about the way the assassins prepared their novices.
“The assassins used drugs (including hashish, from which the word ‘assassin’ derives) to convince novices destined to become self-destructive feddayin, ‘the self sacrificers’, that they had entered a garden of delights where fountains flowed with milk, honey and wine and where houris, those maidens of Paradise, were likewise on tap. Brought back to their normal state, the initiates were told that they had indeed visited Paradise, which would certainly be forever theirs provided they gave absolute obedience to the commands of the assassins’ imam.”
It is not unknown that, even today, suicide bombers make use of drugs in preparation for carrying out their attempts.
JOHN ANTHONY ZAMMIT – San Ġwann
Tale of an unknown victim
I have just read the article wherein the police issued a statement informing us that the missing Somalian was actually the same worker who died on a factory site a few days earlier, in a work-related incident.
We were also told that, when hospitalised, no one knew his identity and was simply tagged as ‘Mr X’.
Can someone please explain how this worker was not identified when, presumably, he was in employment?
Did the OHSA and the police carry out investigations to determine the circumstances leading to the death of this man and whether he was regularly employed and insured?
Can we have some explanations, please?
We cannot just go on as if nothing happened.
JOSEPH CROKER – Balzan
A united front will be stronger
On December 23, John Borg expressed his wish that, for democracy to survive in Malta, there should be a third political party with enough votes to secure parliamentary seats.
I ask: do the so-called independent parties registered with the Electoral Commission have what it takes to, at least, gain enough votes for one parliamentary seat each?
My negative reply urges me to suggest that they unite under one party, have a representative or two in each of the 13 electoral districts and, perhaps, they will garner enough votes in one or two districts, thus upsetting the two giant parties’ apple cart.
A united front shows the will and strength to partake in our democratic system.
ANTHONY SALIBA – St Paul’s Bay