Infamous Assassins of the Middle Ages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Assassins

"The Nizari Isma'ili State, to become known as the Assassins, was founded by Hassan-i Sabbah who called his disciples Asāsiyyūn (Arabic: "أساسِيّون", meaning "people who are faithful to the foundation [of the faith]"). The state was formed in 1090 after the capture of Alamut Castle in modern Iran, a site to be the headquarters of the Assassins."

"It is unknown how Hassan-i-Sabbah was able to get the Assassins to perform with such fervent loyalty. One theory, possibly the best known but also the most criticized, comes from the reports of Marco Polo during his travels to the Orient. He recounts a story he heard of a man who would drug his young followers with hashish, lead them to a "paradise", and then claim that only he had the means to allow for their return. Perceiving that Sabbah was either a prophet or magician, his disciples, believing that only he could return them to "paradise", were fully committed to his cause and willing to carry out his every request.[109] However, this story is disputed[by whom?] because Sabbah died in 1124 and Rashid ad-Din Sinan, who is frequently known as the "Old Man of the Mountain", died in 1192, whereas Marco Polo was not born until around 1254."

Even if Marco Polo's story is apocryphal, there are certain elements in the basic materials of Islamic faith and in their practice that correspond to the elements of the story, namely the concept of shahid and the depiction of what awaits in their paradise those men who fight, kill and die (1) for their faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houri "He is forgiven with the first flow of blood (he suffers), he is shown his place in Paradise, he is protected from punishment in the grave, secured from the greatest terror, the crown of dignity is placed upon his head—and its gems are better than the world and what is in it— he is married to seventy-two wives among the wide-eyed houris (Ar. اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ زَوْجَةً مِنَ الْحُورِ الْعِينِ) of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives.[54]"

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad "The primary aim of jihad as warfare is not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but rather the expansion and defense of the Islamic state.[57][58] In theory, jihad was to continue until "all mankind either embraced Islam or submitted to the authority of the Muslim state." There could be truces before this was achieved, but no permanent peace.[45] One who died "on the path of God" was a martyr (shahid), whose sins were remitted and who was secured "immediate entry to paradise".[59]"