Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Damascus

Al-Ashraf or al-Ashraf Musa (d. 27 August 1237), fully Al-Ashraf Musa Abu'l-Fath al-Muzaffar ad-Din, was a ruler of the Ayyubid dynasty.

The son of Sultan al-Adil I, al-Ashraf was installed by his father in Harran in 1201 as Governor of the Jezireh. After his brother al-Mu'azzam's death in 1227, al-Ashraf received a request from his nephew, al-Muazzam's son, An-Nasir Dawud, for aid in opposing al-Kamil of Egypt. Instead, al-Ashraf and al-Kamil came to an agreement to divide their nephew's lands between them. Al-Ashraf captured Damascus in June 1229 and took control of the city. He took Baalbek as well in 1230. In return, he ceded his lands in Mesopotamia to al-Kamil and acknowledged his supremacy, while an-Nasir had to be satisfied with the possession of a principality centered on Kerak in the Transjordan region. A number of years later, al-Ashraf began to chafe under his brother's authority, and in 1237 allied himself with Kayqubad I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm, and various Ayyubid princelings based in Syria, against al-Kamil. However, Kayqubad died early in the summer of that year, and al-Ashraf himself died on 27 August, breaking up the alliance. Al-Ashraf was succeeded in Damascus by his younger brother, as-Salih Ismail.

See also

• Al-Ashraf Musa (disambiguation)
• Aqsab Mosque

References

Regnal titles
Preceded by Al-Adil I	Emir of Harran 1218–1229	Succeeded by As-Salih Ayyub
Preceded by An-Nasir Dawud	Sultan of Damascus 1229–1237	Succeeded by As-Salih Ismail