Salim ibn al-Mustafad was the son of a
ghulam (slave soldier; pl.
ghilman) of
Sayf al-Dawla, the
Hamdanid emir of
Aleppo in 945–967. Ibn al-Mustafad was a leader of the surviving Hamdanid-era
ghilman when the
Fatimids directly ruled Aleppo in the early 1020s. Though of foreign origins, Ibn al-Mustafad was assimilated into the Aleppine populace and resided in the al-Zajjajin (glassmakers) quarter where he likely cultivated close relationships with craftsmen, minor traders and laborers. Ibn al-Mustafad defected to the
Bedouin rebel
Salih ibn Mirdas when the latter besieged Aleppo in 1024. After Salih died, his sons
Nasr and
Thimal succeeded him, until the former seized complete control of Aleppo in 1030 following the Mirdasid victory over the Byzantines at the
Battle of Azaz. Ibn al-Mustafad remained in charge of the
ahdath, but he opposed Nasr's move to make the Emirate of Aleppo a formal vassal of the Byzantine Empire in 1031. prompting the Byzantine governor of
Antioch to demand Nasr execute Ibn al-Mustafad. Accordingly, he was captured and executed in 1034. It is not apparent in contemporary sources if anyone succeeded Ibn al-Mustafad as commander of the
ahdath. ==References==