Zaynulla Rasulev was a religious figure and educator.
He was born in March 28, 1833 in Sharipovo village, Troitsk district, Orenburg province. After graduating from Troitsk’s madrasah in 1859, he worked as a mudarris and imam khatib in Akkhodzha village, Verkhneuralsk district, Orenburg province. Sheikh Abdul Hakim ordained him as a member of the Nakshbandiya brotherhood in 1869. Rasulev visited Mecca and Istanbul in 1869-1870. Upon his return, he attempted to incorporate a number of Sufi innovations into the practices of local Muslims, which enraged representatives of official Islam. Because of their denunciation, in 1873 he was exiled to Zlatoust, then to Nikolsk, and in 1876 to Kostroma. After his release in 1881, he resumed his religious activities in Akkhodzha village and performed his second Hajj. Since 1884, Rasulev was the imam khatib of a mosque in Troitsk, at which he founded the new-fangled Madrasah Rasuliya. He enjoyed great influence among the followers of both Jadidism and Qadimism, had many students (murids) from Tatars, Bashkirs, and Kazakhs. He had a talent for healing. He died in February 2, 1917, and was buried at the Muslim cemetery in Troitsk, Chelyabinsk Region.
