Mohammed ash-Sheikh
Abu Abdallah's uncle, Abd al-Malik, who, like Abdallah al-Ghalib, was a son of Mohammed ash-Sheikh, had already fled to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire in 1574. Back in Ottoman Algeria, Abd al-Malik succeeded in organising his own army, consisting of Ottoman soldiers, and in 1576 he invaded Morocco and conquered Fez from his nephew, in the capture of Fez. The first battle was in al-Rukn in the lands of Banu waritin, near Fez. In a second battle near Salé (Rabat) in Jandaq al-Rayhan, Abd al-Malik also defeated his nephew. A third battle, also won by Abd al-Malik, took place in Taroudannt.