The holy Quran, the final revealed book from the heavens as per the Muslim tradition, is the book of Criterion, al Furqan which distinguishes the truth from the falsehood, the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, the virtue from the vice etc. It says in chapter 90, verse 10 (Surah Al-Balad) النَّجْدَيْنِ وَهَدَيْنَاهُ wa hadaynāhu an-najdayn, which means “And shown him the two highways”. The way here refers to the two diverging path, one leads to the Rehman (the Most Merciful) while as the other leads to the Shaitan (the Devil). These are not the literal ways rather they depict the two opposing ways of right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and vice, the truth and falsehood respectively. The teachings of whole Quran revolve round this theme to demarcate and distinguish these ways from each other so that the follower would be admonished time and again to be on the tract which leads to the Lord. That is what we have been time and again reciting the verse of Surah al Fatihah (the Opening Chapter of the Quran), which says

المُستَقِيمَ الصِّرَاطَ اهدِنَا, Guide us to the straight path. It is the path which is our desired path, leading to the eternal.
Since the time immemorial or we can say from the time of our great grand-father, the Adam (AS), the whole story of the existence is about these two paths for which not only Islam talks about but also other religions as well do talk. The great patron saint of Kashmir, Lalla daed, in one of her famous Vaks says:

“Shiv te Shaitan wouchum aeksaiye garas
Balki Shaitan wouchum paeyth mimbaras”

It can be translated as “I have seen the Lord and the Devil sharing the same house, contrary, the Devil was on the higher station”. This Vak of Lalla too talks about these two paths- the path of the Lord and the path of the Devil, the path of the good and the path of the evil, the path of the virtue and the path of the vice, the path of the truth and the path of the falsehood. The whole game of existence revolves round these two paths. It is these two paths which tried to converge or encountered with each other at the Battle of Karbala. The one path was treaded on and represented by Hussain (AS), the grandson of the Prophet (SAW) while as the other path was treaded on and represented by Yazid I, a son of Amir Ma’awiyyah (RA), a companion of the Prophet (SAW) and the scriber of the revelation.
Historically, as we know, the battle took place in 61 AH corresponding to 680 CE at Karbala, a famous suburb of Baghdad, Iraq between the forces of Yazid I and the unarmed companions and relatives of Hussain (RA). Yazid was representing the clan of Banu Ummayah which was in power at that time while as Hussain (RA) representing the clan of Banu Hashim which is the clan of the prophet Muhammad (SAW). The two clans were the rival clans in earlier times in the Jahilliya Period (the Age of Ignorance).
So, as the history says that the rivalry between Banu Hashim and Banu Ummaayah dates back to the Jahilliya Period which, for time being, remained dormant because of various religious and political factors that are here beyond the scope of this piece. As there are two sides of each story or as we say that there are two faces of the same coin. Likewise, there are two aspects to an incident or phenomenon, be it political, religious, social or economic. As we deliberate here upon the Battle of Karbala, a historical incident, it two has two aspects- the exoteric one and the esoteric one. Majority of the historians do talk about the exoteric aspect while they somehow ignore its vital aspect, the esoteric one, which is its primary and dominating aspect. Hussain (RA), as already mentioned that he represented the truth while as Yazid I represented the falsehood, which is bound to vanish sooner or later as the Quran says:
زَهُوقًاكَانَ الْبَاطِلَ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلُ وَزَهَقَ الْحَقُّ جَاءَ وَقُل

And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to perish.” (ABUL ALA MAUDUDI)
And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.”( MUHSIN KHAN)
And say: Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish. (PICKTHALL)

If we look closely at the meanings of this verse by different scholars of Islam, we will come to know that the verse too talks about these two paths, the right path and the wrong path, the truth and the falsehood. It is this diverging path which led to the battle of Karbala, where we see Hussaini and Yazidi forces are combating with each other.
As earlier mentioned about the two aspects, the esoteric and the exoteric, the battle of Karbala can be best explained esoterically. It was a battle between two opposing forces, though their origin is the same, the nafs, the self. Our self too has good and bad forces embedded in our makeup which are always combating with each other. The good force leads us to Rehman (the Lord) while as the bad force leads us to Shaitan (the Devil). Whatever good is there in the world, it is because of the manifestation of the good force. Contrary, the devilish force, by default, manifests into wrong doings like rifts, anarchy, war and battles.
Husaain (AS), in esoteric aspect, represents the Rehmani traits, qualities and actions. To combat and wrestle with the Rehmani traits, there, by nature, should have been some evil force, which we know as Yazid in the Muslim history that stood against Hussain and his companions at the battle of Karbala. This battle was not between Hussain (RA) and Yazid rather it was between virtues and vice, good and bad, right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Hussain (RA) represents the good while as Yazid represents the bad. Hussain (RA) represents the virtue while as Yazid represents the vice. Hussain (RA) represents the Truth while as Yazid represents the Falsehood. But the important thing we must not forget here is that these traits are embedded in our genetic makeup. So, we can say that we are simultaneously both Hussaini as well as Yazidi depends upon our conduct, character, attitude and personality…
No, we have to decide, whether we are with Hussain (RA) or with Yazid. It is our character, conduct and etiquettes that will decide what we are- Hussaini or Yazidi…
I will conclude with the Kashmiri verses of an KAS officer of Kashmir, Imtiyaz Anjum:

Aql Yazeedi, aml Yazeedi
Meh touti dawa beh chus Hussaini
Zikr Yazeedi, fiqr Yazeedi
Meh touti dawa beh chus Hussaini
Qalb Yazeedi, Qalm Yazeedi
Meh touti dawa beh chus Hussaini
Asr Yazeedi basr Yazeedi
Meh touti dawa beh chus Hussaini

Email:-------------------------------khandaybilal12@gmail.com