ABC Mini-Encyclopedia

Assassination

To the editor of Financial Times

Dear Madame/Sir,

In the July 27/28 "World news digest" you refer to the (defensive) killing of a captain of the Hamas terrorist organization as "assassination".
 
The Assassins "...were members of a secret Islamic order originating in the 11th century who believed it was a religious duty to harass and murder their enemies. The most important members of the order were those who actually did the killing. Having been promised paradise in return for dying in action, the killers, it is said, were made to yearn for paradise by being given a life of pleasure that included the use of hashish. From this came the name for the secret order as a whole, an, "hashish users." After passing through French or Italian, the word came into English and is recorded in 1603 with reference to the Muslim Assassins. " (from  The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000. The emphasize is by ZM)

Regards,

Z.M.