Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

FEDAYEEN • 191scholar who issued the fatwa has died, any hukm remains in effecteven if the authority who has issued the hukm has died.FEDAYEEN (ALTERNATIVE SPELLING: FIDA’IYIN). Arabicplural of Fida’i, also, Fedayan, Persian plural of Fida’i, “one whooffers (self-sacrifice),” that is, one who offers himself sacrificially ina holy struggle. This name has been adopted by at least five differentgroups in the history of terrorism:1. The Isma’ili Fedayeen. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Isma’iliShi’ite activists in Southwest Asia organized corps of assassins willingto undertake attacks against Sunni rulers in which the assassinwas certain to be killed or captured. To counter the awe and respectthese bold attacks created among the common people, apologists ofthe Abbasid dynasty targeted by the Isma’ilis claimed that the attackerswere really Hashshishin, those under the influence of hashish.This term became the source of the word assassin. These Fedayeencontinued to operate for over a century, using the mountainous regionaround Alamut in central Iran as their base of operations, until theywere exterminated by the invading Mongol armies.2. The Fedayan-i Islam. An Iranian terrorist group founded bythe Shi’ite junior clergyman Navab Safavi in 1944 to assassinateIranian intellectuals and politicians held to be responsible for thedecline of Islam in Iran. The Fedayan began with the dramatickilling of the secularist historian Ahmad Kasravi in 1946 and followedup with the killings of the Minister of Court Hazhir, PrimeMinister Razmara, and attempted assassinations of Prime Minister‘Ala and Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. The Iranian security policelater smashed the Fedayan organization in 1956, executing itsmain members, including Navab Safavi. As late as 1965, however,the assassination of Prime Minister Alam was carried out by a selfproclaimedmember of the Fedayan. Following the 1979 revolutionin Iran, survivors of the group reconstituted themselves openlyas a minor Islamic political party in Iran. Members of this groupappear to have been behind the attempted assassination of IraqiDeputy Prime Minister Tariq ‘Aziz on 1 April 1980. In November1998 the Fedayan emerged from years of obscurity by attacking abus in downtown Tehran with stones and iron rods; some of the 13American tourists aboard suffered minor cuts from flying glass.The Fedayan then issued a communiqué denouncing the Americans