This publication is the fourth in a series of articles devoted to the dominant thesis in traditional Islamic political and legal theology about Jizya as a tribute from Non-Muslims, established by the Prophet Muhammad. The focus of these four articles is the main paradigmatic precedent – the deputation of Najran Christians to Medina and the agreement concluded with the Prophet on the payment of jizya. The formal Hadith analysis (i. e. in the aspect of the reliability of the isnad — the chain of transmitters) of the relevant traditions, given in the first article, is followed by their substantive analysis. The historicity of the aforementioned embassy, discussed in the previous two parts in terms of the composition of the deputation and the text of the treaty, is disputed here in the light of chronological inconsistencies and the presence of other versions that do not include the condition of paying tribute. The study is conducted in line with the reformist-modernist discourse, orientated on the disclosure of the tolerant-pluralistic intention of prophetic Islam.

This article is devoted to the study of the preconditions for Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history. It is argued that his theory of history was both a result of his own intellectual development and previous theories. The author states that Ibn Khaldun was influenced by ancient thought, political culture of Western Asia and Islamic intellectual tradition. The first was Ancient Greek philosophy and medicine that he inherited from the great physicians and philosophers like Aristotle, Hippocrates and Galen. The second was cultural and political legacy of Sassanid Persia. The third prerequisite for formation of Ibn Khaldun’s theory of history was the adoption of the achievements of his predecessors, Islamic scientists, theologians and philosophers who had contributed to the rational critique of history.

The interaction of various religious and philosophical traditions in the epistemological, soteriological and ontological levels is one of the most interesting topics of the modern culture. And in this sense, the text of Bīrūnī is more relevant today than ever, because it demonstrates the feasibility of one of the most problematic types of interaction — the Islamic tradition and the Hindu tradition. The paper deals with the sample of such an interaction in the period of the Middle Ages. The paper represents a brief introduction to the first Russian translation of some fragments of the Arabic text “Kitāb Bātanjali al-Hindī” by Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī.

Transl.: Ruzana V. Pskhu, Valentina N. Putyagina.

This article examines the history of the tradition of translation of the Qur’an into French. This tradition is one of the oldest and most influential, as it has significantly supported the development of many other traditions of translations of the Qur’an, primarily, but by no means only, into many European languages (including Russian). In this paper we have attempted to examine the history of the tradition of translating the Qur’an into French in the context of the searching for a balance between the aesthetic characteristics of the interpreted text and its scholarly adequacy. Particular attention has also been paid to the translations of the Qur’an into French made by Francophone Muslims themselves: both in France and abroad.

This article is devoted to the practices of religious education and socialization of Muslims in the Nizhny Novgorod region, more precisely, to the study of Qur’an reciting competitions in the period from 2005 till 2021. The purpose of the study is to reveal the essence of these practices. The sources of the research include information materials of the official Internet site of Spiritual Boards of Muslims of Nizhny Novgorod Region (DUM NO), and the results of an interviews with representatives of the organizers’ team of the competition and teachers of maktabs. Based on this goal, the authors seek to reconstruct the specifics of the organization of the Qur’an reciting competition. The study has used the interdisciplinary approach and methods of social sciences. The research identified the following practices: the practice of mentoring and systematic training and education; the practice of teaching and religious education through contemporary means of communication; the practice of common work and competition in good deeds; the practice of thanksgiving, praising the Almighty; socialization practice, strengthening unity within the ummah; the practice of encouraging of the acquisition of new knowledge; vocational guidance practice. The research scientific novelty is expressed by systematization of information about Qur’an reciting competitions in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

This article is devoted to the study of Shi‘ite Muslims, natives of Transcaucasia, South Asia, and Southern Dagestan, settled in the Moscow region during the post-Soviet period. The study is based on the author’s field materials (2017–2021). There are three main stages of the formation of Shi‘ite communities in Moscow: activities individual activists in the 1990s; sustainable development in the 2000s; and full-fledged autonomous existence in the 2010s. The article shows that the Shi‘ites in Moscow are not united in the one whole community, moreover, communities representing different ethnic groups are independent of each other. They develop separately; at the same time, some neophytes stand apart. The structure and social relations in Shi‘ite communities largely reproduce patterns of social organization of their homeland. Ethnic, cultural and linguistic borders do not become transparent. Political events and upheavals in the exodus countries activate the national and ethnic feelings of the Moscow Shi‘ites. The Shi‘ite communities have built interstate religious networks, which allow them to continue their autonomous development in the Moscow region.