Ash's Triple Threat by Simcha Whitehill

Ash's Triple Threat by Simcha Whitehill

Islamic popular preachers and storytellers had enormous influence in defining common religious knowledge and faith in the medieval Near East. Jonathan Berkey�s book illuminates the popular culture of religious storytelling. It draws on chronicles, biographical dictionaries, sermons, and tales � but especially on a number of medieval treatises critical of popular preachers, and also a vigorous defense of them which emerged in fourteenth-century Egyptian Sufi circles.

Popular preachers drew inspiration and legitimacy from the rise of Sufi mysticism, with its emphasis on internal spiritual activity and direct enlightenment, enabling them to challenge or reinforce social and political hierarchies as they entertained the masses with tales of moral edification. As these charismatic figures developed a popular following, they often aroused the wrath of scholars and elites, who resented innovative interpretations of Islam that undermined orthodox religious authority and blurred social and gender barriers.

Critics of popular preachers and storytellers worried that they would corrupt their audiences� understanding of Islam. Their defenders argued that preachers and storytellers could contribute to the consensus of the Islamic community as to what constituted acceptable religious knowledge. In the end, religious knowledge, and the definition of Islam as it was commonly understood, remained porous and flexible throughout the Middle Period, thanks in part to the activities of popular preachers and storytellers.

SIMCHA WHITEHILL lives in New York City, but has spent much of her career in the world of Pokü¾Ž–”¼mon. A graduate of New York University, she began working on the American show production team, has had a hand in developing games for the brand, and authored over two dozen Tomes about Ash, Pikachu, and their crew. Like most fans, Simcha shares the mantra, Gotta catch 'em all. In addition to Pokü¾Ž–”¼mon, Simcha has also written for Disney and Nickelodeon.