Ibn Abi Talib al-Dimashqi

{{Short description|Syrian Sunni theologian (1256–1327)}}

{{Infobox religious biography

| religion = Islam

| honorific prefix = Shams al-Dīn

| name = Ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Dimashqī

| image =

| image_size =

| era = Islamic Golden Age

| region = Caliphate

| denomination = Sunni

| birth_date = {{circa|1256}}

| birth_place = Safad near Damascus, Syria

| death_date = {{Death year and age|1327|1256}}

| death_place = Safad, Syria

}}

Ibn Abi Talib al-Dimashqi (full Arabic name: {{transliteration|ar|Shams al-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Anṣārī al-Dimashqī}}, {{Lang|ar|شمس الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن أبي طالب الأنصاري الدمشقي}}), {{Circa|1256–1327}}, was a Syrian scholar and theologian of Islam.{{Citation |last=Thomas |first=David |title=Ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Dimashqī |date=2010-03-24 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/christian-muslim-relations-i/ibn-abi-talib-al-dimashqi-COM_25503 |work=Christian-Muslim Relations 600 - 1500 |publisher=Brill |language=en |access-date=2022-06-16}}

He was born near Damascus and remained in his hometown until his death. He worked on several subjects and served as an Imam at al-Rabwa. Ibn Abi Talib al-Dimashqi was given the titles Shaykh al-Rabwa and Shams al-Din. He likely had a son named Abd Allah, hence his {{transliteration|ar|kunya}} Abu Abd Allah.

Al-Dimashqi wrote an extended defence of Islam in response to the Letter from the People of Cyprus, itself a reworking of an earlier Letter to a Muslim Friend by the Christian bishop Paul of Antioch.