In the publication the description of the unique document – the diary of Musa Bigiyev which the scientist conducted in 1927, and also its translation into Russian is presented. The proposed material introduces the scientist’s attitude to the socio-political situation in the post-Ottoman middle East and, in general, the Muslim world in the 20s of the 20^th century.

The article provides an insight into the collection of letters sent by the thenyoung Orientalist Agathangel Krymsky (russ. Agatangel Efimovich Krymskii, ukr. Ahatanhel Yukhimovych Kryms’kii; 1871–1942 to Professor H.E. Baron Viktor v. Rosen (russ. Viktor Romanovich Rozen; 1849–1908). Both scholars rank at the top in the Russian Orientalist studies in the last century. The collection of letters preserved at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive comprises 15 items. Most of the letters date back to the period between 1898 to 1906. The letters provide a vivid illustration of academic life and contacts between the scholars in the Former Russian Empire, as well as kind attention of Baron v. Rosen to his junior colleague. They equally portray Professor Krymsky’s unrivaled learning and ability to accept criticism, attention to detail, everything, which significantly contributed to his astonishing scholarly career and international reputation. The creative spirit of the Russian Orientalism at the fin de sièclepreserved in this collection is illustrated by the two letters from Krymsky to Rosen published as an appendix.

The article analyzes the influence of the Islamic tradition (doctrinal, cultural) on the religious community of the Bahá’ís, which borned in the Qajar Iran and was formed on the territory of the Ottoman Empire (Iraq, Palestine) in the second half of the XIX century. In the methodological aspect, the article is based on a civilizational approach that emphasizes the researcher’s attention to the sociocultural aspects of the stated problem. The following results were obtained during the study. First of all, the doctrinal influence of the Islamic (in particular, Shiite and Sufi) traditions on the doctrine of Bahá’u’lláh, which manifested itself in his works such as «Kitab-i-Igan» («The Book of Certitude») and «Haft Wadi» («The Seven Valleys»). In addition, the article traces the influence of the traditions of Islamic calligraphy on the work of Mishkin-Kalam (one of the closest adepts of Bahá’u’lláh). The main conclusion of the article is  that the influence of Islam on the teachings and culture of the early Bahá’í community was quite significant.

The Agafurovs were the well established Russian Tatar merchants. Before 1917 the Agafurov family had significantly contributed to the cultural development of the city of Yekaterinburg and its Muslim community. The family was actively involved in charity work, financially supported the city «House of worship», the Russian-Tatar public library as well as several schools. The biographies of the some Agafurov family members are rather well researched on the basis of the sources preserved in the Ural libraries. However, researchers still lack a knowledge about what did happen to them since they have left Russia after the 1917 Russian revolution. The article is an attempt to fill in this gap. It deals with what happened to the Agafurov family members during their emigration to China (Harbin) in 1920 – 1940es. The present research is based on the hitherto unknown documents from the former Russian Emigrants in the Manchurian Empire Bureau, which are currently preserved in the State Archive of Khabarovsk Region (Khabarovskii Krai).

The article offers an insight into the history of the Muslim communities in the Russian capital city of St. Petersburg in the 18^th –20^th cent. The author identifies the problems, which gradually arose in course of implementation of the state national policy in various periods of the Russian history. Equally she outlines the problems, which may be an obstacle in the interfaith dialogue.

Recently, the concept of Islam Nusantara appeared in the Islamic social thought of Indonesia. This term was officially put into circulation by the religious and educational organization Nahdatul Ulama (Revival of the Ulema) in 2015. Islam  Nusantara respects cultural and religious differences as manifestations of the will of Allah, believes that love and compassion are integral features of the Muslim religion. Islam Nusantara organically does not accept the authoritarian and pretending to be the truth in the last instance interpretations of Islam, imposed by extremists. Islam Nusantara is the reinterpretation of the basic theological principles of the NU, which combines classical Islamic theology (aqeedah), jurisprudence (fiqh) and local traditions. This approach suggests that Indonesian Muslims do not need to give up their national and local identity. On the contrary, traditional values can coexist harmoniously with Islamic identity, and an orthodox Muslim can simultaneously be an Indonesian nationalist. Supporters of the concept emphasize that this is not some new trend in Islamic social thought or another interpretation of Islam. Islam Nusantara is an Indonesian version of Muslim religious practice, historically developed in the process of its dissemination on the archipelago. Islam Nusantara provokes sharp rejection and condemnation of representatives of radical Muslim movements, especially Wahhabism and Salafism and their like, who seek to purify Islam from local traditions.

This article can be considered, in a sense, as an introduction to the translation made by the authors from Arabic into Russian of Avicenna’s (Ibn-Sina, 980–1037) treatise «On Love», in which he presents the most fully exposition of his view on love as a divine characteristic and a universal all-encompassing principle, which is inherent to every creature and serving the cause of its being. In this introduction the authors trace the origin of Avicenna’s teaching back to the Holy Quran and the Sunna. There is depicted its reception in other religious and philosophical schools, especially in Sufi theosophy.

The treatise “On Love” is written by the greatest philosopher of the Islamic world Ibn-Sina (Avicenna, 980–1037). It develops a conception of love as one of God’s attributes as well as the driving motive of cosmogenesis and the principle, which unites the Creator and the creatures. Along with the teaching on epiphany (tajalli) this conception will become fundamental for Islamic theosophy and especially that of the Sufis.

The number of muslims in the world increases rapidly. The Islamic religion sees the Holy Qur’an and Sunna are major regulators of the individual’s life. The present article deals with the phenomenon of finances as seen through the regulations found in the Holy Scriptures of Islam.

The article deals with the connections between the radical feelings of a part of the newly Islamized youth on one hand-side and the propaganda increase of Islamic extremists who use pseudo-Islamic slogans in order to provoke public disorder on the other. The author claims that the best results in helping the Muslim youth to avoid the ideological traps can be achieved when the State cooperates with Islamic educational bodies. She points out that the most effective tool to fully achieve this goal can be the well-structured national system of Islamic religious education. The support and attention from the State is one of decisive factors in revival of the Muslim theological schools in Russia. In the present situation the important role in this process plays the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Being a State regulator in the field of education and science, the ministry is actively involved in the implementation of the program for the development of Islamic education in Russia.

The article deals with the superstitions and biased opinion regarding the State and its structre. The superstitions are usually used by the society both to legitimize the political regime and to represent politicians as heroes in the popular opinion. In the article are analyzed methods which enable the religious thinking to shape popular ideas about the state and its government. The author also enlightens the role of political elite in creating the rulers’ image. The article also comprises an analysis of Islamic influence in the geopolitical context.

The article deals with the analysis of religious conflict from the theological point of view. The topic invites a closer attention due to the increasing tensions between the members of multi-confessional communities. These tensions result in the population’s acute interest towards various religious aspects. They also challenge the efficiency of the established relations between the state and the Church and may result in bloody conflicts. Many specialists in the study of conflicts consider therefore the present century as a turning point, which inevitably has to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of a conflict.

The article describes the results of a cross-cultural empirical study of the value orientations of Muslim youth in the North-Western Caucasus. The research involved 727 respondents (Adygs – Kabardians and Circassians, Karachais, Balkars). Due to the research needs the following methods were used: the method of measuring the cultural value orientations and the method of measuring the values at the individual level (Value Survey by Shalom Shvartz), the “Ethnic affiliation” method by G.U. Soldatova. On the basis of the data obtained, a general conclusion was made. For Muslim youth in the NorthWestern Caucasus shows the high level of collectivistic values importance, but the values of Independence and Mastery are important either. The analysis of the Islamic factor in the formation of value orientations of young people, the dynamics of the correlation of collectivistic and individualistic values as well as a dynamic of changing in the collectivism types balance (the group belonging) requires further study.

The article comprises results of a social and psychological study. This study had its aim to research the motives, which people use to embrace Islam as a new religion and the problems, which arise when an individual acquires a new religious identity. For this study the author has developed a special questionnaire and has conducted more than 2000 hours of interviews with the converts. Its result offers a list of motives often brought forward to explain the conversion. Among them there are spiritual search, the search for the meaningful life, an individual and his/her purpose, need for clear doctrine with understandable values. The author argues that there is still a necessity to psychologically help the new converts to adapt themselves to the newly acquired religious and existential identity.

The article deals with the results of a study, which aim was to ascertain the end of life and life expectations as seen by the Russian children of age 6-8 years. The author argues that this aspect is very important since its availability signals the correct development of children’s personality. The target group consisted of 128 children selected from pre-schools and schools of Kazan (Tatarstan) and Moscow. The study has shown various stages of the diachronic development of the end of life concept as seen by the children.

The article comprises a report about the opening in the city of Ufa (Bashkortostan, RF) of the Bashkortostan Branch of the Association «Psychological Support for the Muslims». The Branch is affiliated with the University centre «Theology» of the Bashkir State University (Institute of History and Public Administration). It also comprises a survey of the series of work-shops held on the 23^th - 24^th of March 2018 in the Bashkortostan Branch of the Association «Psychological Support for the Muslims». These workshops were aimed to establish ways and methods of how to enhance the resistance and provide psychological support within the target group of the Volga Muslim youth against messages spread via diverse media (wireless, on-line, etc.) by religious extremists.

The biographical dictionary by Abu Tahir as-Silafi under the title “Mu`jam as-safar” (Dictionary of the travels) has been introduced by the Ukrainian Arabic scholar of Daghestani origin Ziya Saidov. The rich and hitherto underexplored data on the history of the Northern Caucasus was used in his PhD Thesis, however not extensively. Then only the first volume of the biographical work of As-Silafi was available to him. Some information used by Dr Saidov originate from the works of later Muslim authors, in the first instance al-’Askalani, Ibn al-Sabuni, Ibn al-Fuvati and al-Zahabi. The present article mostly provides additional information to the broad picture of the Islamic religious life in the Eastern Caucasus in the 11^th - 12^th centuries, to which mostly contributed Professor Amri R. Shikhsaidov, Dr Z. Saidov and the present writer.

The article reflects the results of the international meeting “Theology and Islamic Studies in Russia and Iran: history, methods, educational  approach.” The meeting took place in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian academy on the 8^th of May 2018. The Meeting Committee received a substantial grant from the Culture Section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Russia. At the meeting took part over 20 scholars from various research and educational bodies of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Among them were scholars from the University of Teheran, the al-Mustafa International University, Moscow State University, St Petersburg State University, Bashkortostan State University in Ufa, the Daghestan Institute of Hunmanities, The Moscow State University of Foreign Languages, the Pyatigorsk State University, and the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. In the article Prof. Yazdi outlines the recent trends in teaching Islamic theology and Islamic studies in the University of Teheran. The outstanding results gained by the scholars of this University in the field of Islamic education has attracted a vivid interest of their Russian colleagues. The teaching of Islam in the Islamic Republic of Iran runs in the four main directions:

1. Teaching of Islam in the traditional framework combined with rational sciences and philosophy.

2. Islamic studies and Islamic theology as a separate teaching module in the leading Universities of Iran.

3. Islamic studies are combined with teaching of exact sciences as in the Imam Sadiq University (Tehran), the Motahhari University (Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province) and the Imam Reza University (Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province).

4. Islamic studies constitute an integral part of University education in Iran.

The teaching of Islam in the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on the Islamic tradition, philosophy and rational sciences. Therefore, the theology is considered as one of the aspects of the rational teaching. This is the basis of the Iranian moderate Islam. The author shares his practical experience of teaching Islam and Islamic sciences of many years.

The article deals with the personality of a Muslim scholar of the 1st part 14^th cent. His name was `Ubayd Allah b. Mas`ud, his laqab was Sadr ash-Shari`a as-saghir (Sadr ash=Shari`a  ath-thani). He authored a work (yet unpublished) known under the title Ta`dil al-`ulum, which until recently has not attracted sufficient attention. The article comprises `Ubayd Allah b. Mas`ud’s biography and a survey of the existent hand-written copies of Ta`dil al-`ulum. Dr Idrisov suggests a different date of its composition and offers some corrections to the existent MSS catalogues where the work is described. Along with this information the article provides a survey of the sources used for compiling the Ta`dil al-`Ulum as well as a summary of the work, which became a milestone in the development of the maturidi kalam in Khorasan and Mawarannahr.