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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Ashura Defying Death On The Day Of Ashura How Do We Deal With Death? The issue of death and the way to deal with it is among the prominent elements of the bloody fight by the Bank of the Euphrates on the day of Ashura. From this angle, the event of Ashura is distinct among great historical events. When Husayn (as) was leaving Hijaz and heading towards Iraq he announced that he would meet his death on that trip.

He also informed the people of his own death and urged them to lay down their lives for the same cause and prepare themselves for their meeting with God. Throughout the journey to Karbala, Husayn (as) had been frankly telling his companions and the people he met that their destination was inevitable death. His companions entertained no doubts about it: they were absolutely sure.

The only excuse offered by those who wished to forsake Husayn (as) was their fear of death, and there are many instances of this in Husayn’s journey to Karbala. This is a remarkable feature of the battle of Ashura which distinguishes it from other similar incidents. For a revolutionary leader to invite people to their death is very rare, if not completely unheard of.

Such leaders invite the people to activism and revolution and request them to get ready to sacrifice their lives for it, if need be. Husayn’s case was different . He did not seek a military conquest as imagined by the people; he only wanted to embark boldly upon a tragic sacrifice unparalleled in history, in order to jolt the nation’s conscience. Husayn (as) had found that the Umayyads had succeeded in controlling the people’s will and rendering them subservient through terror and exile.

In this atmosphere the Umayyads tried to reinstitute pre-Islamic values and views in the new Islamic society with no significant opposition from the community. Therefore a strong jolting of the people’s conscience was necessary to restore the will they had been robbed of, and this could only be achieved by a tragic sacrifice unparalleled in history! Thus Husayn (as) prepared his family and his companions for this tragedy!

This feature of the event of Ashura makes it unique when compared to most other similar events in history. It is a deceitful mistake of history to have stripped Ashura of this feature.