"Dock the Tail of Illegal Religious Figures." Ideological Evolution of Faizrakhman Sattarov’s Views on the Role of Official Clergy in the Life of the Russian Muslims

Abstract

The article aims to understand the factors that have influenced the ideological evolution of Faizrakhman Sattarov (1929-2015), the founder and leader of the religious community “Faizrakhmanists”. According to the author, the main point in Sattarov’s evolution was his reappraisal of the role of the so-called “official Muslim clergy” in the religious life of the Russian Muslims. The author considers two texts, which, in his opinion, belong to F. Sattarov’s authorship: a Friday sermon delivered in connection with the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution, and a compendium on the basics of Islamic doctrine. Both documents are related to the period when Sattarov worked as imam-khatib at the Leningrad Cathedral Mosque. The texts are examined in the context of Sattarov’s biography.