The article continues the analysis of the dominant doctrine in the traditional political and legal theology concerning jizya as a tribute from Non- Muslims, established by the Prophet Muhammad. The factual basis of this doctrine was discussed in relation to three paradigmatic precedents, which are usually referred to in support of it: the treatise of the Prophet with the Christians of the city of Najran; with the Jews and Christians during the Tabuk campaign; with the Majus- Zoroastrians of Bahrain. Having discussed in the previous essay the question of the authenticity of Islamic narrative on Najran deputation, from the formal hadithological point of view (i. e., in the aspect of isnad), the author proceeds here to consider these traditions in a substantial way. The study is conducted in line with the Reformist Modernist discourse.

The problem of disintegration of the Islamic Ummah a long time ago became the one of the most important for the Islamic world and worldview. The wave of violence in the Near and Middle East sharpened some regional conflicts, which have already taken place before. The paper deals with the roots of this conflict atmosphere in the Early Islamic period. As the tradition affirms, the Prophet Muhammad predicted the Ummah to split in 73 sects. Today there exist in any case not less than 73 different Islamic schools, movements and organizations, which mutually and constantly contest their doctrinal authenticity. Moreover, the activity of quasi- Islamic extremist organisations like the ISIS, which is forbidden inside as well as outside the Russian Federation, is quite remarkable. All these factors demonstrate, that from the academic point of view it is actual to critically research the nature of fragmentation and disintegration of Islamic communities through the prism of prophetic legends. This paper is to consider as an attempt to resolve this multidimensional problem.

The present article focuses on explaining F. Rahman’s humanist and historical approach to the Quran. Pakistani thinker criticizes the concept of Quran as “uncreated” as it was established in the Islamic world after the rejection of Mu‘tazila. He states that in this view Quran is separated from the actual history and lives of people and thus cannot become the spiritual guidance it is supposed to be. The author demonstrates that F. Rahman continues the Neomodernist tendency in Islam and creatively employs the ideas of his predecessors. In particular, he does not argue with the revelationist idea of the Quran, but he urges to analyze it in context of historical revelation and consider the situational nature of particular physical articulation of ayahs performed by the Prophet. Author also notes that in order to perform a novel interpretation of Quran F. Rahman has to rethink the traditionalist legalistic ordinances for believers as they are set to regulate life only externally. Rahman also criticizes atomistic method, which implies separation of the Quran and its meaning from all the other Quranic ideas, and strives for holistic method in hermeneutics of Quran. Historical critique applied to the Quran by F. Rahman serves to understand it in its historicity, and in doing so clarifies the embodiment of universal ethical concepts in particular instances.

The paper deals with notions of Imam al- Shatibi on the sources and development of Islamic law, as they are set out in his main treatise al- Muwafaqat. Al- Shatibi’s approach involved combining the usul method with maqasid al-shari‘a, which was used in order to improve the usul method itself. The author demonstrates the successive development of alShatibi’s thought in relation to the ideas of al- Ghazali and the influence of al- Shatibi on the further development of Islamic legal theory. For instance, an important concept maslahah was to a large extent derived from the ideas of al- Shatibi; later the theory of maslaha became one of the most important elements of modernism. Moreover, the paper traces back the connection of al- Shatibi’s approach in the field of law to the principles of studying the text of the Qur’an. Imam al- Shatibi contributed to the convergence of the Islamic legal theory and the interpretation of Qur’an and therefore set the framework for thematic interpretation. Al- Shatibi can be considered as a precursor to what has become known since the late 1960s as al- Tafsir alMawdu‘i, that is, an interpretation based on the consideration of a specific topic either in a single Surah or throughout the entire text of the Qur’an. One of the main advantages of the hermeneutics of al- Shatibi is that it helps to overcome the “atomism” of some studies undertaken by jurists and interpreters who mainly dealt only with certain passages of the Qur’an, but in no way with its whole content.

The traditional theme of “Me” and “the Other” in the light of modern politics and sociology reveals new problems connected to history of culture of different nations. Existential, social and psychological aspects of the relationship of Me and the Other present now a universal scale and thus require common efforts for their solutions. Mass migration from Asian and African countries to Europe and the USA poses new questions about mutual relations of cultures and religions. In front of Me there are new images of the Enemy emerging; they require a revision of the habitual values, including a new vision of a person’s place in society, nature, and the importance of their scientific discoveries.

This part completes the exposition of the state of research on the thought of Abu Hamid al- Ghazali (1058–1111), the greatest Islamic jurist and theologian, which started in the first part of the present paper. This part describes the main approaches to al- Ghazali’s heritage, developed by Russian scholars at the end of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^th century. The author demonstrates that Russian scholars during the aforementioned period conducted a comprehensive analysis of some important parts of al- Ghazali’s philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. The author summaries the results of their studies on al- Ghazali’s social and political thought. Moreover, this part of the article examines studies on al- Ghazali’s logic carried out by Russian scholars. The author outlines specific directions for future research on al- Ghazali’s philosophy and theology.

The article examines the political views of the famous Persian thinker and political figure Nizam al- Mulk, expressed in his main work, the treatise “Siyasatnama”. The paper deals with the brief description of the historical situation in which the thinker’s life took place; after that the author characterizes the structure and logic of the treatise. It is argued that politics for Nizam al- Mulk is inextricably linked to practice, not reduced to a set of certain theoretical provisions. Based on personal experience and proofing his ideas by concrete examples, the thinker sketched main traits of the ideal ruler and gave recommendations that the latter should follow in order to strengthen the power of state and to maintain it. At the same time Nizam al- Mulk sought to recreate the traditional Iranian political structure throughout the Empire. In particular, a competent approach to government issues implies a good awareness of the ruler, attention to economic problems and issues of religious education and upbringing. The thinker paid great attention to all three aspects in his work. This paper also concentrates on the question, how these ideas were implemented by Nizam al- Mulk, in his attempts to create an information service (diwan-i barid) to reorganize the financial system of the Seljuk Empire. Moreover, the article discusses why some of ideas of Nizam al- Mulk (mainly related to economic development) were not implemented or led to negative consequences while have been implemented.

The article deals with the history of formation and development of cultural landscapes of the two largest urban Tatar communities of pre-revolutionary Russia, namely of Kazan and Astrakhan. Both Astrakhan and Kazan are two centers of the Turkic–Tatar world, the history of which traces back to the Golden Horde. The both were the capitals of independent Tatar states- khanates and the both became in the middle of the XVI century the part of the Russian state. In the second half of the XVIII — early XX centuries, Tatar Muslim communities were formed in the both cities, which have had their own cultural and national identity. The Muslim population sought to preserve and develop their ethno- confessional identity. All these circumstances shaped a special cultural landscape of the Tatar settlement within the borders of the provincial Russian cities in the Modern age.

The subject field of this article, devoted to the manifestation of the Islamic factor in the socio- political life of the Great Britain, is localized within the borders of Scotland. The authors emphasize the special (different from other regions of the UK) nature of the interaction of the Muslim ethno- confessional minority with the indigenous population of Scotland. Most attention is paid to the identity of Scottish Muslims. The article highlights that Scotland demonstrates its winning position for Muslims through the development of an inclusive identity. The authors make a prognostic conclusion that Scotland will maintain a policy of affirming common civic values that ensure the pluralism of various socio- cultural communities. According to the authors, the future of Scotland is a post-ethnic, transcultural socio- political state- organized space in which British-wide tensions between Muslims and non- Muslims will gradually decrease, and the Scottish tradition of equality and social justice will be strengthened.

This article is devoted to the current socio- political processes experienced by the Muslim community in the United States of America. The author studies the process of harmonious integration by Muslim Americans into American society, the search for possible correlations between the religious and secular parts of society, and the requirements of Islam in the face of demo cratic values. The author pays special attention to the issues of self-determination for Islam adherents, including their political search, and attempts to gain a powerful voice in the most important political events. The article analyzes such aspects of American Muslims life as, interaction with representatives of other faiths, discrimination and Islamophobia, and the Islamic religious worldview of black Muslims. The author focuses on problematic discourse. Using methods of analysis, deduction, as well as methods of included observation, the author shows a modern picture of American Muslim life, and also makes important conclusions and predictions regarding their future in a rapidly changing multicultural American society.

The article discusses the use of information and communication technologies in the training of specialists with in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of Islam at the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St. Petersburg State University using the example of the online course “Islam: history, culture, practice”. It is used both by students to consolidate and deepen their knowledge in the framework of the educational process, and by a wide audience to get acquainted with the basics of Islam and understand the peculiarities of the existence of this religion. In addition, the article touches on the prospects of using massive open online courses in the Russian education system, since distance and e-learning are gradually becoming an addition to traditional forms of teaching. The active production of online courses allows to talk about their use in order to increase the competence of the student, modernize the educational process, popularizing scientific knowledge and increasing the target audience.

This work presents a translation of a fragment from the work of the prominent Arab- Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Lat.: Averroes, d. 1198) — of commentaries on the fifth chapter of the third book of the Ari stotelian treatise “On the Soul”. The doctrine of intellect set forth in this treatise, which is lapidary and allows for ambivalent interpretations, was developed in many directions in Muslim philosophy (falsafa), gaining new dimensions — ontological, cosmological, prophetological, eschatological.
In the Long commentary, which relates to the mature period of activity of Averroes, his fundamental noological ideas were finally set forth, primarily the concept of the unity and eternity of all-human intellect. Known subsequently as Mononoism, this concept gave rise to the heated debates in European culture and became significant for Ibn Rushd’s followers — the Latin Averroists.

The article is devoted to the study of the conditions of life of the Sahrawi people who live in refugee camps in Algeria since 1970s due to the Western Sahara conflict. The process of political settlement of the Western Sahara conflict has been de facto suspended, however the situation in the Sahrawi refugee camps remains unstable and requires new solutions and international cooperation. The article provides a historical overview of the emergence of the refugee camps in Tindouf and examines existing mechanisms for international supporting the Sahrawi people. The author tends to analyze activities of the UN system organizations and agencies. Annual events within the framework of the FiSahara Film Festival to support Sahrawi are reported. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of Islam in Sahrawi society and the possibilities to benefit from the Islamic identity of the Sahrawi people to the Islamic cooperation and helping for refugees from Muslimmajority states. It is shown that the authorities of the unrecognized Sahara Arab Democratic Republic (the front POLISARIO) create the image of the secular Sahrawi community to overcome Islamophobia and receive humanitarian aid from a wide range of non-governmental organizations, including Christian and secular ones. At the same time, the true religious component of refugees’ life is hidden from the international community.