In Muslim communities of contemporary Russia, the processes of re-Islamization are actively taking place, leading to the transformation of traditional ritual. The study of the ongoing changes (usually accompanied by the disappearance of ethnic rituals) is an important research task. The article examines the funeral rites of Mishar Tatars of the Republic of Mordovia – their content and transformations. The analysis shows that in the territory of the region in the second half of the 20th century there was a syncretic tradition of carrying out funeral rites of the Mishar Tatars. The funeral and memorial combination included rituals and elements of rituals of a non-Islamic nature, borrowed from other religious, ethnic, cultural and ideological systems. At the beginning of the 21st century, the process of bringing the burial and memorial rites of Mishar Tatars of the Republic of Mordovia to Islamic canon was intensified. A distinctive feature of the process was the exclusion from the ritual practice of all rites and elements of rites that do not correspond to Muslim canons.