The Kite Runner Research Paper

Most popularly noted, the term “assassins” was derived from the Arabic word “hashshashin” which means “the murderous hashish user.” The term first originated as a nickname Muslims gave to the Nizari Ismailis, then passed throughout Europe with the belief that these people were cold-blooded, hashish-addicted killers. Because writing was kept minimal, the history and practices of the Nizari Ismailis were often unknown. Any early information would have been recorded by their enemies: the Muslims. As a result of European interpretation and interaction, a number of “assassin legends” have been created. Through encounters, the reality of the Nizari Ismailis became wrongfully depicted due to Muslim bias and an ignorant European outlook of the Orient. …show more content…
Although Hasan Sabbah’s true motivations for adapting assassination is unclear, Nowell argues that he “employed organized murder for removing and intimidating his enemies” in order to “overthrow both the Abbassid Caliphs and Seluk rulers.” Undeniably, Hasan’s motives are closely tied to the original split of the Ismaili sects. However, these motives are not recorded by Crusaders or any other historian of the time. The Europeans simply saw the Nizaris as killers, and did not understand that “they were dealing with religious fanaticism.” The European interpretation of the sect, argues Lewis, was based on “their [Nizari] conduct rather than a description of their practices.” The motivations behind the assassination targets of the Nizaris were poorly understood by Europeans, because they did not take the time to learn about the people which the Holy Land originally belonged to. At first it was the fanatical devotion which caught the eye of Europeans, but later, it was the assassin’s way of murder which left the deepest impression. Despite the assassins being viewed contemporarily as being stealthy and silent, the assassins of the thirteenth century were quite the contrary. They carried out their murders in a grand display that would go unnoticed by the public – thus acting as a warning for the Nizari’s other political opponents. Most likely, it was the only aspect of the sect that …show more content…
Both Bartlett and Hodgson claim that, from the beginning, the Ismailis “committed to little writing” because they were forced to “keep secrecy on their approach both to their religion and their evangelism.” This fact is not surprising, as they lead covert lives to conceal their targets for assassination. However, the general misinterpretation of the sect made by Crusaders was due to general ignorance, and not because of a lack of information or encounters. In fact, encounters between the Europeans and Nizari sect became quite frequent during the Third Crusade – the latter even became fascinated with the Crusaders’ beliefs. The Templars, in 1152, forced the Nizaris to pay a yearly tribute. There are even records of the sect’s “flirtation with Christianity,” where the Ismailis sent an envoy claiming they were interested in converting to Christianity. However, the Christian Franks “remained almost completely ignorant of Islam as a religion and its internal divisions despite protracted exposure to Muslims of the Near East,” because they were “not interested in acquiring accurate information about their Ismaili neighbors.” If records of encounters are written with deliberate ignorance, then their relevance and accuracy is discredited. Nevertheless, these records

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