By the time Ali’s second son, Hussain, came to be the third imam, divisions between the caliph and the imam had further deepened. In A.D. 680, during the holy month of Muharram, a caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, Yazīd, ordered Hussain to pledge allegiance to him and his caliphate – a dynasty that ruled the Islamic world from A.D. 661 to 750. Hussain refused because he believed Yazīd’s rule to be unjust and illegitimate. His rejection resulted in a massive 10-day standoff at Karbala, in modern-day Iraq, between Umayyad’s large army and Hussain’s small band, which included his half-brother, wives, children, sisters and closest followers.
