He was married to Raja Dewi, a daughter of Munawwar Syah of the Indrapura kingdom.
When his elder brother Ali Ri'ayat Syah I died in 1579, he was briefly succeeded by his infant son Sultan Muda.
According to the chronicle Hikayat Aceh, he was excessively generous, especially giving away riches to the uleëbalangs (chiefs) of Barus, another port town on the west coast.
Since the treasury was emptied, two grandees of the kingdom called Maharaja and Malik az-Zahir found him unsuited and deposed him after a very brief reign.
[1] The chronicle Bustanus Salatin describes him bad-tempered and unfit to rule, and was therefore deprived of his throne as well as his life.