What are the similarities between the “Assassins” sect, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the organizations that emerged from them?
The series “Assassins” has adopted the principle of assassinations embraced by Hassan el-Banna, the leader of the terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood, to be the central theme of the series presented by al-Mutahida Company in the 2024 Ramadan drama season.
Indeed, since its emergence in 1928 under its founder Hassan al-Banna, the terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood has adopted violence, murder, and assassinations as a main strategy. From the assassination of Judge Ahmed el-Khazindar to that of Prime Minister Fahmy al-Noukrachi, passing through the assassination of former Attorney General Hisham Barakat and hundreds of other terrorist operations carried out against the Egyptian people and other groups and terrorist organizations that emerged from it, such as takfir and hijra, Islamic groups up to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
According to what was published by the Egyptian newspaper “Al-Dostour,” these terrorist organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood bear striking similarities to the “Assassins” sect, even a remarkable convergence, as noted by Bernard Lewis in his book “The Assassins: A Revolutionary Sect in Islam’s History,” highlighting how the killing of a member of the “Assassins” sect for his victim was not only an act of faith but also had rituals of a sacred nature.
It is noted that in all the assassinations carried out by the “Assassins,” whether in Persia or Syria, they always used the dagger and never resorted to poison or arrows, although killing by such alternative means is sometimes easier and safer. The “Assassin” killer always held his weapon almost openly, not attempting to flee afterward, suggesting that they considered staying alive after completing the mission as something shameful.
This, according to the newspaper, reflects what we have seen in most, if not all, the terrorist operations carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood and other organizations that emerged from their ranks, and is also manifested in the phenomenon of suicide bombers, whether through the use of car bombs or explosive belts, when the terrorist blows himself up in dense gatherings to cause the greatest number of casualties.
