Ghaylān al-Dimashqī - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Judd, Steven C.
Leiden
Brill
(1,309 words)
Ghaylān al-Dimashqī (fl. c.100/719) was a prominent leader of the Qadarī movement-whose adherents believed in human free will-in Umayyad Damascus, and he served in government positions, at least during the reign of the caliph ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz (r. 99-101/717-20). His background and parentage are unclear. Reports name him Ibn Muslim, Ibn Yūnis, or simply Ibn Abī Ghaylān. His father appears to have been a mawlā (client) of the caliph ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (r. 23-35/644-56) and may have