Editing Rafiq

{{Era|Assassins}}
{{Youmay|the Assassin rank|[[Rafik]], the bureau leader of [[Damascus]] in 1190}}
{{Quote|Be sure to visit the city's Assassin Bureau when you arrive. I'll dispatch a bird to inform the Rafiq of your arrival. Speak with him, you'll find he has much to offer.|Al Mualim to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, 1191.|Assassin's Creed|Knowledge (Masun)}}
[[File:AC bureau concept.png|thumb|250px|The Bureau, a Rafiq's home]]
A '''Rafiq''', also known as a '''bureau leader''' or '''Keeper''',<ref name="ACAC">''[[Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles]]'' – {{Cite}}</ref> was a graduated [[scholar]] of the [[Assassins|Hidden Ones]] and their successive form, the Assassin Brotherhood. While the rank was first adopted by the organization's [[Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins|Levantine branch]] during the [[Middle Ages]] and is most commonly associated with it, bureau leaders have existed across many different time periods and geographical regions.

A Rafiq was responsible for coordinating Assassin missions in their assigned city or district from an [[Assassin bureau]]. In this capacity, the Rafiq provided valuable information for agents in their field work, such as the locations where information could be obtained about [[assassination target]]s, and determined whether or not the assassination could be conducted.

==Role==
The primary duties of a Rafiq was as a teacher and field contact to the Assassin visitors of their city, in turn providing them with suggestions on where and how to gather information. A Rafiq also coordinated and gathered the information gathered by the Assassin [[informer]]s of the city, who also acted as contacts in specific city districts.<ref name="AC1">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – {{Cite}}</ref>

[[File:AC1 Damascus Rafiq.png|thumb|left|250px|Altaïr and the Rafiq of Damascus]]
Upon receiving a [[Assassination contracts|contract]] from the [[Mentor]], lower-ranked Assassins were required to report their findings about their target to the local Rafiq before being allowed to proceed with the assassination. If the Rafiq deemed that the Assassin possessed the proper information—including where, when, and how—to stage a successful assassination, he or she would present the agent with a [[feather]] marker to be stained with the target's blood. This would later be shown to the Rafiq as evidence of success, and as such simultaneously serves as a token of approval for the assassination.<ref name="AC1"/>

Aside from bureau responsibilities, each Rafiq held a particular skill or talent that they could teach, in addition to philosophy, religious doctrine, or adherence to the [[The Creed|Assassins' Creed]]. The skill would be translated into a profession, with the Rafiq establishing a business as a front for the Assassin bureau. For the Rafiq, this business was in itself legitimate, such that the store served not just to disguise Assassin operations, but also as a means to generate income for themself and the order.<ref name="ACAC" /><ref name="AC1" /> For instance, the bureau leader of [[Jerusalem]] in 1191, [[Malik Al-Sayf]], was a cartographer;<ref name="AC1 /> the Rafiq of [[Damascus]] in 1190, [[Rafik]], was a [[silk]] [[merchant]]<ref name="ACAC"/> and his [[Damascus bureau leader|successor]], a potter;<ref name="AC1"/> [[Hamid (Tyre)|Hamid]] of [[Tyre]] was a carpet merchant;<ref name="ACAC"/> and the Rafiq of [[Acre]], [[Jabal]], was a scribe.<ref name="AC1"/>

==Dai==
The Dai was a rank only slightly higher than that of Rafiq. Though technically superior to a Rafiq, they possessed similar responsibilities and duties.<ref name="AC1"/>

[[File:Malik Bureau 1.png|thumb|250px|Altaïr with Malik, the Dai and leader of the Jerusalem bureau]]
When preparing for [[Majd Addin]]'s assassination, Altaïr went to Jerusalem's bureau and addressed its leader Malik with the term "Dai".<ref>''Assassin's Creed'' – [[Knowledge (Majd Addin)]]</ref> This suggests{{Cite|20 Nov 2025}} that Malik had been elevated to the rank of Dai after he had successfully completed the mission to retrieve the [[Apple of Eden 2|Templar treasure]] from [[Solomon's Temple]],<ref>''Assassin's Creed'' – [[Failure]]</ref> surpassing Altaïr's previously higher rank as [[Master Assassin]] and field instructor.

Some time before the [[retaking of Masyaf]], while devising a plan on how to approach Al Mualim, Malik in turn referred to Altaïr as Dai, suggesting either that Altaïr had held this rank before his earlier demotion and had just re-attained it, or that he had surpassed his rank as Master Assassin in that moment.<ref name="AC1"/>

==Known bureau leaders==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" heights="180">
Tahira render.png|[[Tahira]]<ref name="THO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – ''[[The Hidden Ones (DLC)|The Hidden Ones]]''</ref><br>[[Klysma Quarry|Klysma]], [[Sinai]]<br>(until 38 BCE)
ACMirage DB Fuladh.png|[[Fuladh Al Haami]]<ref name="ACMir">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]''</ref><br>[[Sharqiyah]], [[Baghdad]]<br>(860s)
ACMirage DB Tabid Al-Nubi.png|[[Tabid Al-Nubi]]<ref name="ACMir"/><br>[[Abbasiyah]], Baghdad<br>(860s)
ACMirage DB Rebekah.png|[[Rebekah]]<ref name="ACMir"/><br>[[Karkh]], Baghdad<br>(860s)
Wiki noimage.jpg|[[Mahaut]]<ref name="The Silk Road">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road]]''</ref><br>[[Chinon]]<br>(c. 870)
ACV Basim render.png|[[Basim Ibn Ishaq]]<ref name="The Silk Road"/><br>[[Constantinople]]<br>(c. 870)
DTVA Hytham.png|[[Hytham]]<ref name="ACV">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]''</ref><br>[[Ravensthorpe]]<br>(873)|alt=HythamRavensthorpe(873 – ?)
Wiki noimage.jpg|[[Marcella]]<ref name="ACV:SotWH">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse]]''</ref><br>[[London|Lunden]]<br>(878)|alt=MarcellaLunden(878 – ?)
Rafik.jpg|[[Rafik]]<ref name="ACAC"/><br>[[Damascus]]<br>(c. 1190)
Hamid.jpg|[[Hamid (Tyre)|Hamid]]<ref name="ACAC"/><br>[[Tyre]]<br>(c. 1190)
Kadar-ACAC.png|[[Kadar]]<ref name="ACAC"/><br>[[Jerusalem]]<br>(c. 1190)
DBL V.png|[[Damascus bureau leader]]<ref name="AC1"/><br>Damascus<br>(c. 1191)
AC1 Jabal.png|[[Jabal]]<ref name="AC1"/><br>[[Acre]]<br>(c. 1191)
AC Malik render.png|[[Malik Al-Sayf]]<ref name="AC1"/><br>Jerusalem<br>(c. 1191)
ACReb Diego de Alvarado.png|[[Diego de Alvarado]]<ref name="ACReb">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]''</ref><br>[[Burgos]]<br>(until  c. 1492)
AC4 Opía Apito render.png|[[Opía Apito]]<ref name="AC4">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref><br>[[Cayman Islands]]<br>(c. 1716)|alt=Opía ApitoCayman Islands(c. 1716 – ?)
AC4 Antó render.png|[[Antó]]<ref name="AC4"/><br>[[Kingston]]<br>(c. 1716)|alt=AntóKingston(c. 1716 – ?)
AC4 Rhona Dinsmore render.png|[[Rhona Dinsmore]]<ref name="AC4"/><br>[[Havana]]<br>(c. 1717)|alt=Rhona DinsmoreHavana(c. 1717 – ?)
AC4 Upton Travers render.png|[[Upton Travers]]<ref name="AC4"/><br>[[Nassau]]<br>(c. 1717)|alt=Upton TraversNassau(c. 1717 – ?)
AC4 Vance Travers render.png|[[Vance Travers]]<ref name="AC4"/><br>Nassau<br>(c. 1717)
ACS Henry Green Render.png|[[Jayadeep Mir]]<ref name="ACUnd">''[[Assassin's Creed: Underworld]]''</ref><ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref><br>London<br>(1865 – c. 1868)
</gallery>

==Trivia==
*Both Jabal and the leader of the Damascus bureau were addressed merely as "Rafiq", rather than by their name.
*Rafiqs did not appear in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines]]'', but key members of the [[Cypriot Resistance]], such as [[Alexander of Limassol]] and [[Markos (Cypriot)|Markos]], acted in a similar manner to them and were situated in Resistance safe houses similar to Assassin bureaus.
*Rafiq, رفيق, is an Arabic word meaning 'friend'.

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: The Fall]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Memories]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Underworld]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''
**''[[The Hidden Ones (DLC)|The Hidden Ones]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]''

==References==
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