ABSTRACT
Against what is perceived as a tacit agreement between Russia’s ‘traditional’ religions (Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism) not to engage in missionary work among each other’s faith communities, Priest Daniil Sysoev (1974–2009) conducted assertive evangelism among Muslims. This article analyses Sysoev’s confrontational discourse on Islam, and his strategies for missionary work. The most important of these strategies were his use of Islamic vernaculars for Orthodox Christian preaching among Muslims, and his active engagement of Islamic authorities in public theological debates. The article argues that, in these strategies, he followed the model of the Kazan Theological Seminary in the nineteenth century, which conducted missionary work among Muslim Tatars; and, also like the Kazan missionaries, Sysoev developed a focus on the Kriashens (Christian Tatars), and even played a role in the elaboration of Tatar Christian terminologies. Sysoev’s assassination in 2009 raises many questions, including how far he was aiming at becoming a martyr. While his parish continues to call for Sysoev’s canonization, the official Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has been ambiguous about his rigorous and confrontational mission, although the sweeping political Orthodox activism of Sysoev’s followers seems to converge with the ROC’s aim to strengthen its position in Russian society.
