The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (126 page)

 
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(d. 1124 (AH 518)).
Founder of the
Niz
r
s
(popularly known as
Assassins
). Very little is known of his early life. His followers captured the strong mountain fortress of Alam
t in 1091 (AH 483) and established it as a power centre of the Assassin movement. He did not introduce assassination as a religious duty, for it had already been practised by other sects; nor is it clear that he even advocated this. But from him derived a movement which gained considerable strength, and which terrorized parts of the Muslim world, until Alam
t was captured and destroyed by the
Mughals
in the 13th cent.

 
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(Heb., ‘for the sin’). First words of a Jewish prayer of confession recited on
Yom Kippur
. ‘Al het consists of an alphabetical list of sins expressed in the first person plural. Each section concludes with the words, ‘and for all these God of forgiveness, forgive us, pardon us, grant us
atonement
’.

 
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(626–80 (AH 4–61)).
Third
Sh
‘a
Im
m
, known from his death as Sayyid al-Shuhad
’, ‘the Chief of Martyrs’. He was the son of
‘Al
and
F
ima
, and, acc. to numerous
ad
th
, was much loved by
Mu
ammad
. During his youth,
usain distinguished himself for his devotion and service to his father. He remained in the background during
Mu‘
wiyya's
reign, but refused to acknowledge Yaz
d as heir-apparent. Upon Yaz
d's accession (680), he escaped from
Mad
na