In 1030, his grandfather, al-Qadir named his son Abu Ja'far al-Qa'im, as his heir, a decision taken completely independently of the Buyīd emirs.
[3][4] During the first half of al-Qa'im's long reign, hardly a day passed in the capital without turmoil.
Frequently the city was left without a ruler; the Buyīd emir was often forced to flee the capital.
While the Seljuk influence grew, Dawud Chaghri Beg married his daughter, Khadija Arslan Khatun,[5] to al-Qa'im in 1056.
Al-Muqtadi was born to Muhammad Dhakirat, the son of caliph al-Qa'im, and an Armenian slave girl[7] called Urjuwuan.