Alamūt: Ḥasan Ṣabbāḥ; Pir-i Kūhistān: Persian 1402

The story of Al-Mut is set in 11th-century Iran, in the fortress of Alamut, where the self-proclaimed prophet Hassan ibn Sabah is plotting his own dangerous but brilliant plan to rule the region with a handful of elite fighters who are to become his “living daggers.” By creating a virtual paradise in Alamut, filled with beautiful women, lush gardens, wine, and hashish, Sabah is able to convince his young fighters that if they follow his orders, they can reach heaven. Paralleling Osama bin Laden, Alamut tells the story of how Sabah was able to instill fear in the ruling class by creating a small army of devotees willing to kill and be killed in order to reach heaven. Believing in the great Ismaili motto “Nothing is right, everything is permitted,” Sabah wanted to “test” how far he could manipulate religious worship for his own political gain by appealing to what he considered the people’s stupidity, tolerance, and passion. For his own selfish pleasures and desires. Alamut was originally written in 1938 as an allegory for Mussolini's fascist government. It became popular in the 1960s and in the 1990s, during the Balkan Wars, it was read as an allegory for the conflicts in the region, and became a bestseller in Germany, France and Spain. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the book found new life again, selling over 20,000 copies in Slovenia and being translated into more than 19 languages ​​worldwide.