Russian Pastor Killed While Leaving Church Building

Pastor Artur Suliemanov

It’s disheartening to note how a Russian Pastor, Artur Suleimanov, 49, the pastor of Hosanna Christian Church in Makhachkala, the largest church in the capital of Dagestan, was killed by gunmen on the evening of 15 July while leaving his church building.


This revelation is contained in separate reports from Mission Network News (MNN) http://www.mnnonline.org/  and Compass Direct News (CDN) http://www.compassdirect.org/ adding that the identity of the shooters remains unclear.

The report noted that in the weeks leading up to the killing, Dagestan media broadcast called for people to take measures against Suleimanov because he was too “active” and converted ethnic Muslims.

“Russian Ministries reports that throughout his ministry he received threats from radical Muslims--he himself being a former Muslim and thus considered an apostate. In countries with high Muslim populations, apostates can be punished by death; Dagestan is 98 percent Muslim,” the report said.

It continued: “As officials investigate Suleimanov's death, though no one has been found responsible, they have not ruled out radicals as the attackers. Not dwelling on his death, Suleimanov's congregation celebrates his life, recalling him as a "strong, supportive and positive leader. He is survived by his wife, Zina, and five children."

It pointed out that Suleimanov founded Hosanna Christian Church in Makhachkala in 1994 and that the church started out as a small prayer group, but now with 1,000 members adding that it is the largest Protestant church in the Northern Caucacus region.

According to the report, 80 percent of the congregation is made up of former Muslims stressing that the congregation established other branch churches throughout Dagestan and a formal Bible study center at the Makhachkala church. “Suleimanov also equipped the church to distribute food and other aid to residents of the poverty-ridden country.”

It also said that Suleimanov death follows the shooting of Orthodox priest Daniil Sisoev of St.Thomas church in Moscow last November, which a Muslim group claimed responsibility for the slaying.

It needs to be noted that Dagestan is a small Russian republic of about 2.6 million people in the Caucacus Mountains on the border with Chechnya. They’re ethnic Avars, Dargins and Lezgins, who are all traditionally Muslim and they make up almost 75 percent of Dagestan’s population. In total, 91 percent of the population is Muslim, with the remaining 9 percent being Christian, mostly Russian Orthodox.

And because of Dagestan’s location, its population is trapped in a long-standing feud between Russia and the Chechen separatists fighting next door. The political realities of the conflict often bleed into Dagestan, resulting in civilian deaths.

Further to that, the Russian government has from time to time cracked down on the Wahhabis, a sect of Sunni Islam with separatist tendencies. The Muslims in turn persecute Christians, because they see Christianity and Orthodoxy in particular, as a Russian religion. Many converts to Christianity have to practice their faith in small, discreet home groups.