Abul Amlak Moulay Sharif ibn 'Ali () – also known as Moulay Ali al-Sharif or Moulay Mohammed Cherif, Moulay Cherif, Moulay al-Sharif or Muhammad I – was born in 1589 and died June 4, 1659, at Sijilmasa. He was an Arab Emir of Tafilalt from 1631 to 1636. He was a Sharif whose family claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandson Hasan. He is considered as the founder of the Alaouite Dynasty of Morocco as he was the father of Sidi Muhammad, Al-Rashid of Morocco and Ismail Ibn Sharif. Family origins The Alaouites were a family of sharifian religious notables (shurafa in Arabic) who claimed descent from Muhammad via his descendant Hasan, the son of Ali and of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. According to the dynasty's official history, the family migrated from the Hejaz (in Arabia) to the Tafilalt during the 12th or 13th century at the request of the locals who hoped that the presence of a sharifian family would benefit the region. It is possible that the Alaouites were merely one of many Arab families who moved westwards to Morocco during this period. The Tafilalt was an oasis region in the Ziz Valley in eastern Morocco whose capital is Sijilmasa, historically an important terminus of the trans-Saharan trade routes. Moulay Sharif's first ancestor to have established himself in Morocco after migrating from Hejaz is Moulay Hassan al-Dakhil in the 13th century. He was Imam of Sijilmassa and like him, his posterity resided in Sijilmasa. Moulay Sharif's family were the spiritual leaders of Sijilmasa. His 4th degree ancestor, Moulay Youssef, succeeded his father Moulay Ali Cherif I at the head of the zaouia. Historian Mohammed al-Ifrani quotes that the act which confirms this authority was still, in the 17th century, in the hands of one of his great-grandchildren. Moulay Sharif is the 4th generation descendant of Moulay Youssef and his wife Seyida (Lady in Arabic) Khalifa Tālākakīn al-Ṣanhājī of the Almoravid dynasty. Biography Character Since his teenage years, Moulay Sharif was reported to be a virtuous man and the most prominent of his father Moulay Ali Cherif III's sons. As an adult, he was a trustworthy man as people from Sijilmasa and the Maghreb (Morocco) would solicit him for mediation. Reign Moulay Sharif was born in (November 9?) 1589 as the eldest son of Moulay Ali Cherif. Before his ascension, he was Mukadam (General in Arabic) in