As its nisba shows, the family hailed from the village of Madharaya near Wasit in lower Iraq.
[1][2] Ali was a son of the founder of the family's fortunes, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Madhara'i.
[1][2] Ahmad held his post until his death in 884, and appointed Ali and his brother al-Husayn as his representatives in Egypt and Syria respectively.
[1] Ali's sons, Abu'l-Tayyib Ahmad (died 915), and Abu Bakr Muhammad, continued to occupy high office, Ahmad as fiscal director and Muhammad as vizier to the new Tulunid ruler, Harun ibn Khumarawayh.
Muhammad was the longest-serving and last important representative of the family, surviving the Abbasid recovery of the Tulunid domains and going on to serve the Ikhshidid dynasty after 939.