 Ismail al-Atrash, Muhammad's grandson, joined the Druze leader Shibli al-Aryan of Wadi al-Taym in his military intervention on behalf of the Druze of Mount Lebanon in their conflict with the Maronites in the 1840s.Ismail acquired a battlefield reputation among the Druze and succeeded al-Aryan as the virtual leader of the Druze after the latter's death.Ismail was based in the village of al-Qurayya and became independent of the Druze sheikhs who ruled the area.