Although Al-Maqrizi states that both Haqq ad-Din and his brother Sa'ad ad-Din II were born at the Ethiopian court, both grew up to be the strongest champions of Islam in the Ethiopian region. According to Tamrat Taddesse, due to the antipathy the rest of the Walashmas had to his father Ahmad for his collaboration over the Ethiopians, Haqq started his career as an outlaw at odds with both his grandfather Ali ibn Sabr ad-Din and his uncle Mola Asfah. Taddesse Tamrat credits him with a great deal of Islamic learning, and in time became the leader of the militant Islamic group in the region.[4]