[1] The tribe made its own home in the Syrian steppe, from Hawran in the south to the Euphrates valley in the north during the Qarmatian period in the late 9th century.

[3] The vizier had previously encouraged the nomadic Banu Hilal clans of Riyah and Zughba to invade Zirid territory, prompting Ibn Badis to launch a counteroffensive in which his forces were routed at the Battle of Haydaran.

[3] The Hilali clans fought over the booty and Ibn Mulhim was sent to settle the dispute, after which he utilized their Bedouin warriors to besiege Kairouan, the Zirid capital.

[3] In 1055, Ibn Mulhim was sent on an expedition by al-Yazuri against the Byzantine Empire’s territory in the northern coastal strip of Syria near Antioch.

[5] He resumed command of the Fatimid army in northern Syria and was made governor of Aleppo in 1058 after its Mirdasid emir, Thimal ibn Salih, agreed to exchange it for the governorships of Beirut and Acre.