Ali was recognized as the heir of his father Yusuf ibn Tashfin in 1102. He succeeded his father upon his death in 1106. Ali ruled from Morocco and appointed his brother Tamin ibn Yusuf as governor of Al-Andalus. Ali expanded his territories in the Iberian Peninsula by capturing Zaragoza in 1110, but eventually lost it again to Alfonso I, King of Aragon, in 1118. Cordoba rebelled against the Almoravids in 1121.

In 1139, he lost the Battle of Ourique against the Portuguese forces led by the count Afonso Henriques, which allow Afonso to proclaim himself an independent King.

Ali was succeeded by his son Tashfin ibn Ali in 1143.

According to the Muslim cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi the Mugharrarin (also translated as "the adventurers") sent by Ali ibn Yusuf, led by his admiral Ahmad ibn Umar, better known under the name of Raqsh al-Auzz reached the Sargasso Sea, a part of the ocean covered by seaweed which is very close to Bermuda.

Ali was the son of Yusuf ibn Tashfin. He had at least two sons:

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