However, as he lay dying, some of the leading emirs decided to invite an-Nasir back to Hama to usurp the throne in place of his brother, in the hope that they would be able to exercise real control under his nominal rule.
He was on campaign with al-Mu'azzam, emir of Damascus at the time of his father's death, and al-Mu’azzam would only agree to release him to return to Hama if he promised to pay 40,000 dirhams once he had control of the city.
Kilij Arslan managed to upset his backer however when he made overtures to a third leading Ayyubid emir, al-Ashraf, and failed to pay the 40,000 dirhams he had promised to al-Mu’azzam.
[2] Five years later, in November 1228 (Dhu’l Hijja 625), another set of negotiations took place at Tell al-Ajjul near Gaza between al-Kamil and al-Ashraf as they sought to agree a balance of power between them across the Ayyubid realms.
On 25 July 1229 (2 Ramadan 626) al-Kamil, in alliance with al-Mujahid of Homs, laid siege to Hama to remove Kilij Arslan and restore al-Muzaffar.
After a few days of siege Kilij Arslan came out to negotiate, and eventually agreed to leave Hama in return for receiving the fortress of Montferrand near Baarin.