This article is focused on an extremely important but yet understudied page of the history of the Qur’anic text on the Catherine’s Qur’ans. It refers to the St. Petersburg editions of the Qur’an of 1787–1796, published in the “Asiatic Printing House” of I. K. Shnorr. Catherine’s Qur’ans are the fi rst printed editions of the Qur’an in history, created by Muslims in accordance with Islamic standards and traditions. The famous Kazan Qur’ans issued in the 19th century, which spread all over the world and played a signifi cant role in the dissemination of the text of the Qur’an, originated from the Catherine’s Qur’ans. The study is based on a comprehensive analysis of a wide range of sources. The article is accompanied by data on modern projects in the fi eld of popularization of St Petersburg editions of the Qur’an in Russia and the world, as well as an appendix reporting on the results of an international study of a copy of the Qur’an from 1787 commissioned by the Medina Publishing House, which opens a new milestone in the study of the Catherine’s Qur’ans.

The typographic edition of the Arab text of the Qur’an in Russia began during the reign of Catherine II. Until recently, only two copies of these prints stored in the Russian National Library were known in Russian collections. In 2019, another copy was discovered in the collection of the Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve. This version of the print diff ers from the copies of the Russian National Library with the design of the fi rst pages of the text, using paper with countermarks containing two dates of the paper casting (1793 and 1794). In addition, this copy is a rare example of a book with a year dated 1799 by a record of the conditions of off ering Qur’an as a waqf (gift/inalienable property) to the mosque of Sharif village. Date of paper casting and date of waqf determine the period during which the publication was implemented. The article is devoted to the description of this copy. 

The article is devoted to the role of the clergy in the development of the Muslim press in Russia in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. Des pite the fact that the press is generally regarded as a secular phenomenon of Modern times, Muslim ‘ulama played an important role in the activities of the Russian press from its creation in Transcaucasia to periodicals, which were closed already under the Soviet regime in the summer of 1918. The high level of qualifi cation of ulama manifested itself not only in their religious activities, but also in providing activities press organs. In this article, we examine the newspapers “Nur” and “Ittifak” as publications that paid attention not only to problems directly aff ecting the life of the clergy, but also to problems concerning all members of the Muslim ummah of Russia. 

The article deals with a period when, at the beginning of the 19th century, the indigenous inhabitants of Moscow, the Tatars of the Tatar Sloboda (Settlement in Zamoskvorechye region), were forced to change their status, trying to enroll in the merchant class. However, the Merchant Society repeatedly refused them, referring to their confession of Islam. As a result, the Tatar Sloboda was volitionally ranked among the peasant TroitskoGolenishchevo volost located in the Moscow region. In present article, for the fi rst time, the documents of the Central State Archive of Moscow with the data of the VI, VII and VIII revisions (1811, 1816 and 1834) for the Tatar Sloboda, as well as the register of 1815 compiled at the request of the Spiritual Consistory for the opening of a training class of the Tatar language for the purpose of religious missionary work, are introduced into scientifi c circulation. 

The article examines the example of Musa Jarullah Bigievʼs Ijtihad, which consists in a critical religious and philosophical analysis and deconstruction of the medieval legal foundations of the institution of slavery in Muslim Law. The material presented in the article is based on M. Bigievʼs explanations on this issue, presented by him in 1910 on the pages of the fundamental work “Kawaʼid Fiqhiyya” (“Rules of Fiqh”). Moreover, the article introduces the history of slavery as presented by Bigiev, as well as which verses of the Qurʼan and hadith he cites, acting as an adherent of the fundamental values of Islam, in order to justify the illegitimacy of the institution of slavery. Bigiev considered this phenomenon to be openly contrary to the right of individual personal freedom, a legal concept introduced by him into the conceptual fi eld of Islamic jurisprudence and presented as one of the essential tasks of Sharia. Bigievʼs method of analyzing established legal provisions in order to delegitimize them is an example of deconstruction, ahead of the development and recognition of this concept by modern science in the West and its adoption by thinkers of the Muslim East. The presented material is being introduced into scientifi c circulation for the fi rst time. 

The modern era puts challenges to the Muslim community that cannot be overcome without new methods and their practical application in the Islamic education system. Including this implies the renewal (tajdid) of the educational programs of most Islamic disciplines, including such objects as aqida and tafsir. Aqida is one of the most important elements of the Muslim worldview, which formed a special direction in Islamic theology. This discipline is key because it aff ects ideology, that is, the inner world of a person. However, its study is often reduced to the formal passage of certain principles, and often within the framework of one creed school, which, moreover, is sometimes exhibited as “the only true”. As for tafsir, it is also one of the basic theological disciplines in the system of Muslim education. However, for the most part, the study of tafsir is based on medieval works, which to some extent do not meet modern realities. Whereas new ideas and thoughts, including those based on modern scientifi c religious knowledge, are left without due attention

This article is dedicated to the analysis of the political ideas of two outstanding Islamic thinkers of the medieval period — Abu al- Hasan alMawardi and Nizam al- Mulk presented in their works: Al- Ahkam as-sultaniyya wa-l-wilayat ad-diniyya (“The Ordinances of Government and Religious Authority”) and Siyasat-nama (“The Book of Governance”). These works serve as key sources for understanding Islamic political philosophy and the principles of state governance in the medieval Islamic world. The main goal of this study is to compare the political concepts of al- Mawardi and Nizam al- Mulk, identify their similarities and diff erences, and assess their contribution to the development of political thought. The paper examines the central ideas of al- Mawardi, such as the role of the caliph, the signifi cance of shura (consultation), and the principles of just governance, as well as Nizam al- Mulk’s approach, which emphasizes the practical aspects of state administration, including the role of the vizier and the necessity of strong centralized authority. Despite their diff erences — al- Mawardi’s theoretical orientation and Nizam al- Mulk’s practical focus — both authors underscore the importance of justice, morality, and religious foundations in governance. This research is based on a comparative analysis of Al- Ahkam as-sultaniyya wa-l-wilayat ad-diniyya and Siyasat-nama, while also considering the historical context of their creation. 

The article explores the history of mosques in the Republic of Abkhazia. Based on extensive source material and historiographical analysis, the author concludes that several commonly held views in the fi elds of history and ethnography regarding the presence of Islam in Abkhazian society are erroneous. Specifi cally, the notion that Islam was superfi cial, elitist, and/or localized in its spread in Abkhazia is deemed incorrect. On the contrary, the geographic distribution of mosques, along with the involvement of various social strata — including both aristocrats and ordinary members of Abkhazian society, such as free peasants — in Muslim prayer practices, indicates that Islam was widespread across the territory of the republic and among all layers of the population. Mosques, built at diff erent times by both Ottoman administrators (e. g., in Sukhum- Kale) and the indigenous population, became an integral part of the spiritual life of the Abkhazian people within the tradition of «apsylmanra». All of this allows mosques to be considered an important and inseparable component of Abkhazia’s historical and cultural heritage.