Preaching, admonishing, and the struggle over authority and normativity between scholars and popular preachers in Mamluk society

Abstract

In this article, preaching and other forms of admonishing are understood as interactive rituals that bind communities together and create identity. Preaching therefore, does not only unite people in a shared reality, it also helps the preachers to gain authority among their followers. In a larger societal context, this leads to a competition among different social groups such as scholars and popular preachers. The present study presents a debate in the Mamluk society between two representatives of different groups, one as a representative of the normative textual scholarly elite and the other as a representative of what is often called popular culture.