Islam and the Orthodox Church in contemporary Russia are usually studied in isolation from each other, and each in relation to the Kremlin; the latter demands the development of a home-grown and patriotic ‘religious traditionalism, as a bulwark against subversive ‘non-traditional’ imports. This volume breaks new ground by focusing on charismatic missionaries from both religions who bypass the hierarchies of their respective faith organizations and challenge the ‘traditionalism’ paradigm from within Russia's many religious traditions, and who give new meanings to the well-known catchwords of Russia's identity discourse.

The Moscow priest Daniil Sysoev confronted the Russian Orthodox Church with ‘Uranopolitism’, a spiritual vision that defies patriotism and nationalism; the media-savvy Geidar Dzhemal projected an ‘Islamic Eurasianism’ and a world revolution for which Russia's Muslims would provide the vanguard; and the Islamic terrorist Said Buriatskii found respect among left- and right-wing Russians through his Islamic adaptation of Lev Gumilev's ‘passionarity’ paradigm. On the other side, Russian experts and journalists who propagate the official paradigm of Russia's ‘traditional Islam’ argue from either Orthodox or secularist perspectives, and fail to give content to the concept. This allows even moderate Salafis to argue that their creed is Russia's real ‘traditionalist’ Islam. This book was originally published as a special issue of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.

Alfrid K. Bustanov is TAIF Professor of Islamic Studies at the European University at St Petersburg, Russia. His recent publications include Soviet Orientalism and the Creation of Central Asian Nations (2015); and Islam po-russki: analiz sovremennoi islamskoi literatury v Rossii (with Michael Kemper, 2016).

Michael Kemper is Chair of Eastern European Studies at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His recent publications include Reassessing Orientalism: Interlocking Orientologies during the Cold War (with Artemy Kalinovsky, 2015); and The Piety of Learning: Islamic Studies in Honor of Stefan Reichmuth (with Ralf Elger, 2017).