241/855) was an early Sunni theologian (mutakallim)[2][3] in Basra and Baghdad in the first half of the 9th century during the time of the Mihna and belonged, according to Ibn al-Nadim, to the traditionalist group of the Nawabit.
[11] Ibn Kullab headed a group made up of mainly direct and second generation students of Al-Shafi that included Al-Karibisi, Al-Qalanisi, Al-Muhasibi, Al-Bukhari, Abu Thawr and Dawud-al Zahiri.
[12] They were known for their extreme criticism of Jahmis, Mu'tazilis, and Anthropomorphists by using rationalistic methods (Kalaam) to defend orthodox creedal points of Sunni Islam.
[13] They contradicted the Mu'tazili doctrine of Khalq al-Qur'an (Createdness of the Qur'an) by introducing a distinction between the words of God (Kalam Allah) and its pronunciation.
It has been said that Dawud al-Zahiri, Al Bukhari and al-Harith al-Muhasibi learned kalam from him, according to al-Dhahabi in his Siyar A'lam Al-Nubala'.