Who Was Hasan-i Sabbah? Lord of Alamut in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Shuayb

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Bani Israil and Romec. 1000 BCE – 250 CE

Arabia before IslamUp to 570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1000 CE

Crusades and conquests1090–1502 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

Isa ibn Maryam descends
A landslide in the east
A landslide in the west
A landslide in Arabia
The smoke
The sun rises from the west
The Beast of the earth
A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history66 / 76

حسن الصباح

Hasan-i Sabbah

Lord of Alamut1090–1124 CE

Relied onA mountain fortress and sworn killers

Undone byThe Mongols, long after him

He seized the fortress of Alamut in the mountains of Persia in 1090. His followers became known as the Assassins, killing viziers, princes and scholars, beginning, the chroniclers say, with Nizam al-Mulk in 1092.

How it ended

He died in Alamut in 1124. His fortresses held for over a century, until Hulagu's Mongols took them in 1256.

Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.
Quran 5:32

The lessonWhoever kills a soul unjustly, it is as if he had slain all mankind (5:32).

In the Quran

5:32

Stood against: Nizam al-Mulk
Source: Recorded by historiansFrom Ibn al-Athir and Juvayni, who saw Alamut's library. The tales of hashish and a garden of paradise are later legends, mostly through Marco Polo. This entry is about one man's campaign of murder, not any community today.

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.