Al-Mustakfi I of Cairo

Biography

Like his predecessors Al mustakfi was only a figure head under Mamluk Sultanate Authority , he was deposed and exiled to Qus in Upper Egypt by Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad , Al-Mustakfi named his son as his successor. However, Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bypassed that testament and appointed Al-Wathiq I as caliph instead.

On his deathbed, Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad regretted deposing Al-Mustakfi's branch of the family. He ordered the deposition of Al-Wathiq Billah and restored the title to Al-Mustakfi’s son

Reign

In his reign the island of Arwad on the coast of the Levant opposite the city of Tartus (Tartous today) was saved from the hands of the Crusaders, the last of their positions in the Levant. In the second half of the month of Sha'ban of the same year (702 AH) many princes began to flock to Egypt, as the mongols began to flow towards the levant, the armies fled from Aleppo and Hama towards Damascus as the mongols arrived in Homs and Baalbek, the Muslim armies met with Sheikh Islam Ibn Taymiyah and his followers and with the soldiers of Hama fleeing in Qatifah.

Soldiers came out of Damascus on the 24th of Sha'ban and camped in Al-Kaswa, in order to avoid the city of Damascus because the fields in the city were wet at that time and not suitable for fighting. The armies came from Egypt and met with the people of the levant in the area of Al-Kaswa, and at the head of these armies the Caliph Al-Mustakfi and Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun. On the second Saturday of Ramadan, these armies met in Marj Al-Safar. He asked the people of Damascus to protect the walls and maintain security and cling to the citadel , the Mamluk forces managed to achieve victory and protect Damascus in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar.

Al mustakfi died in exile after naming his son Al-Hakim II as his true successor.