He was the third son of Sultan Alauddin Sulaiman Shah ibni Raja Muda Musa (1863–1938) by Cik Puan Hasnah binti Pilong, a commoner wife.

[1] However, at the instigation of the British Resident, Theodore Samuel Adams (1885–1961; in office 1935–1937), Tengku Musa Eddin was dismissed as raja muda in 1934 for alleged "misbehaviour".

[5] On 15 January 1942, Colonel Fujiyama, the Japanese Military Governor of Selangor, invited Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah to the King's House in Kuala Lumpur.

The congress was organised by the Selangor Malay Society which had as its president the scholar Zainal Abidin Ahmad (Za'ba), a critic of British colonial rule.

[citation needed] On 31 August 1957, by eight votes to one, Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah was elected Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong of independent Malaya.

[10] Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah died from an unidentified illness at the Istana Tetamu, in Kuala Lumpur on 1 September 1960, aged 62, the day set for his installation as Yang di-Pertuan Agong.