Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Muqaddam
Ayyubid emir of Baalbek from 1175 to 1178
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Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn al-Muqaddam (Arabic: شمس الدين ابن المقدم; died at Mount Arafat on 9 February 1188) was the 1st Emir of Baalbek under Ayyubid Dynasty, Although he was not from Ayyubid origin. He was a military commander first in the service of Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Syria and Iraq, later of Saladin, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, Syria and Iraq.
Mount Arafat, Makkah[1]
| Shams al-Din Muhammad | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emir of Baalbek | |||||
| Reign | 1175–1178 | ||||
| Predecessor | Emirate established | ||||
| Successor | Turan-shah | ||||
| Died | 9 February 1188 Mount Arafat, Makkah[1] | ||||
| |||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
Biography
When Nur ad-Din died in 1174, Ibn al-Muqaddam emerged as the head of a powerful group of military commanders and high officials who wanted to assume power in Damascus.[2] They could not prevent their rival the eunuch Gümüshtekin from assuming the guardianship for Nur ad-Din's 11-year-old son and heir, As-Salih Ismail al-Malik, and taking him to Aleppo. After Gümüshtekin made an alliance with Nur ad-Din's nephew Sayf al-Din Ghazi II of Mosul against him, he approached Saladin for assistance and allowed him to seize Damascus peacefully.[3] Saladin awarded him with the iqta' grant of Baalbek. When Saladin's brother, Turan-Shah, requested Baalbek from Saladin in 1179, Saladin offered Ibn al-Muqaddam to exchange Balbeek for a larger domain, but Ibn al-Muqaddam refused.[4] Saladin besieged Baalbek and Ibn al-Muqaddam was forced to surrender it in return for Baarin, Kafartab and smaller settlements.[5] In 1182, Saladin entrusted him as the muḥakkim (arbitrator) and overseer of "all the Arabs" who was responsible for "making the customary payments to them and collecting the customary dues from them".[6] While on the Hajj, he was wounded in the eyes during a skirmish between Syrian and Iraqi pilgrims in the tent of the Iraqi pilgrims' leader at Mount Arafat, where he eventually died on 9 February 1188.[1]