Abū ʿAbdallāh Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Ghālib al-Bāhilī, known as Ghulām Khalīl (d. 275/888), was originally from Basra, a client (mawlā) of the Bāhila clan, who resided most of his life in Baghdad. He appears in the sources as a controversial figure, mostly in connection with the persecution (miḥna) that he inflicted on the Ṣūfīs of Baghdad. He is known otherwise as an ascetic and a popular preacher (qāṣṣ, wāʿiẓ) , who had a poor reputation as a traditionist (muḥaddith). The sources do not explain his appellation "Ghulām Khalīl"