Member of the Berber Zirid dynasty, succeeded to the throne of the Granada taifa of his father Habbus al-Muzaffar although this had to deal with a conspiracy of part of the Granada court supported as a successor to his cousin Yaddair ben Hubasa.
However, the plot failed thanks to his vizier, the Jew Samuel ibn Naghrillah, who thus reinforced its position in the kingdom. In 1038, following the confrontation with the king of Taifa of Almería, Zuhair, took control of the territory of the Almeria taifa and, the following year, managed to curb the expansionist ambitions of the king Taifa of Seville, Abu al-Qasim al defeat in Écija in coalition with the Taifa of Málaga and Badajoz. Joseph continued plotting against Badis ben beans and in 1066, reached an agreement with the Taifa king of Almería, ben Muhammad al-Mu"tasin Ma"n so that it became the capital of the kingdom, Granada.
The conspiracy reached the ears of the people, who rose killing the vizier Joseph and most of the Jewish population of the city (see Slaughter of Granada 1066).
In 1057 he won the Taifa of Málaga annexing his kingdom and placing her firstborn son, Buluggin Ben Badis as governor, who nevertheless would not succeed his father as head of the Granada taifa since I died poisoned in 1064, apparently by Joseph ben Nagrela who had succeeded his father Samuel vizier.
