Born a Christian with Castilian and Catalan origin, he was captured as a child in Calatrava and brought as a slave to the palace.
He converted to Islam and rose through the ranks during the reign of Ismail I (r. 1314–1325), eventually appointed as a tutor to the sultan's son Muhammad.
[1] When the latter became Sultan Muhammad IV at the age of ten, Ridwan remained in charge of him and acted as a sort of regent together with the Sultan's grandmother Fatima bint al-Ahmar.
[2][3] Muhammad appointed him as the hajib in 1329, making him the highest-ranking minister at court.
He remained in this position during the reign of Muhammad's successor Yusuf I and the first reign (1354–1359) of Muhammad V, except for a brief pause during Yusuf's rule.