Pir Hasan Kabiruddin

 

 

Hasan bin Sabbah was born in 1034 (428 AH) into a Shiite family in Qumm. His father, Ali bin Muhammad, was a scholar from a Yemeni-Kufan background. He received early education at home from his father and later moved to Ray, where he pursued religious studies. In his autobiography, Sar Guzasht-i Sayyidna (Incidents in the Life of Our Lord), he writes that from the age of seven, he had a deep interest in learning and aspired to become a religious scholar. Until he was seventeen, he adhered to the Twelver Shiite faith of his father but was always eager to gain knowledge.

 

Hasan was particularly skilled in geometry and astronomy. He encountered Ismaili doctrines through a Fatimid missionary (dai), Amir Dharrab, who introduced him to Ismaili beliefs. He was deeply moved by Ismaili literature and, when he fell seriously ill, he feared dying without understanding the truth. After recovering, he sought further explanation of these doctrines and, convinced that Ismailism held the ultimate truth, he embraced it at the age of 35, in 1071 (464 AH). Shortly thereafter, he came into contact with another Fatimid dai, Abdul Malik bin Attash, in Ispahan.

 

In his writings, Hasan recounts that in 1071 (464 AH), Abdul Malik bin Attash, the dai in Iraq at the time, came to Ray. Hasan gained his approval and was appointed as a deputy dai. He was instructed to travel to Egypt to meet the Fatimid Caliph al-Mustansir. On his way to Egypt, he passed through Ispahan in 1074 (467 AH). Later, in 1077 (469 AH), while al-Muayyad was the chief dai in Cairo, Hasan set out from Ispahan to Egypt. His journey took him through northern Azerbaijan, Mayyafariqin, Mosul, Rahba, Damascus, and the coastal cities of Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Acre, and Caesarea, before reaching Cairo in 1078 (471 AH). There, he was honored by Caliph al-Mustansir, who confirmed that his son Nizar would succeed him as Imam.

 

Hasan stayed in Cairo for about 18 months, enjoying the patronage of the Caliph and learning the latest strategies for missionary work at the Dar al-Hikmah, a major center of Islamic learning. It's possible that he also met al-Nizar, the Caliph's son, during this time. Laurence Lockhart, in his work Hasan-i Sabbah and the Assassins (BSOAS, 1928), notes that Hasan was highly favored by al-Mustansir, but this caused jealousy among the court officials. Badr al-Jamali, the vizier, grew suspicious because Hasan supported al-Nizar as the rightful heir, leading to Hasan's imprisonment in the Dumyat fortress. He eventually escaped when the fortress walls collapsed and sailed to Alexandria with a group of Franks. However, a storm diverted his ship to Acre, where he continued his travels.

 

Hasan then toured many cities, studying the economic, social, and religious conditions of the people, and arrived back in Ispahan in 1081 (473 AH). He began spreading the Ismaili faith in Yazd and Kirman, before moving on to Khuzistan and then Damghan, where he stayed for about three years.

 

Around 1088 (480 AH), Hasan decided to establish a more permanent base for his mission. He chose the remote castle of Alamut in Daylam. From there, he sent out trained missionaries, including Ismail Qazwini, Muhammad Jamal Radi, and Kiya Abul Kassim Larijani, to convert the local population. Eventually, Hasan was appointed the dai of Daylam and managed to avoid arrest by Nizam al-Mulk, the Seljuk vizier, who had ordered his capture. Hasan continued to evade capture, eventually reaching the fortress of Alamut in 1090 (483 AH), where he took control and founded an independent Nizari Ismaili state.