Isa participated in the hunt for the Dulafid Bakr ibn Abd al-Aziz, who led a guerrilla war against the Abbasids.
Although driven to flight in a first encounter, in early spring 897 Isa inflicted a major defeat on the Dulafid, destroying his army and looting his camp.
[2] On 26 January 898, Isa defeated another Dulafid, Abu Layla ibn Abd al-Aziz, near Isfahan.
[5] In the Battle of Hama against the Qarmatians in November 903, Isa commanded the guard of the Abbasid baggage train under the overall leadership of Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib.
[7] His tenure in Egypt was troubled from the start: within months, he was forced to abandon Fustat and flee to Alexandria due to a secessionist rebellion under a certain Ibrahim al-Khalanji.