Among the entertainers and performers were storytellers who were publicly significant, usually standing in the minbar of a mosque to narrate stories, but were sometimes unwelcome by the intellectual leaderships due to being branded as "instigators of rebellion".
As such, according to al-Tabari around 893 Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tadid reportedly ordered that no storyteller would be allowed to sit on public roads or the main mosque of the city.
Nevertheless, storytellers continued to play an important role in the daily lives of the Abbasid people while tackling social issues such as ones regarding the status of women.
[6] As of the 21st century, Dar al-Atraqchi remains one of the only coffeehouses where the occupation is practiced with Mahmoud Abu Tahseen Hussein, who started his job in 1975, narrating stories every Ramadan night.
[6] The Shabandar Café has also been historically frequented by people practicing the Qaskhun occupation alongside Iraqi Maqamists.