The article analyzes the information in ‘Abd al-Ghaffar (Abdulghaffar) Qirimi's historical work "‘Umdat al-akhbar", in which the chronicler tells about the miracles by Khan Berke. The author of the article offers his own interpretation of why Abdulghaffar Qirimi (Kırımῑ) needed to endow Berke with miracles when describing the reign of Berke, to declare him a sheikh and a disseminator of Islam in the Golden Horde. Abdulghaffar Qirimi, who was well acquainted with Ottoman historical works on Islam and created his work within the framework of the Ottoman historiographic tradition, wrote the history of Khan Berke in a way understandable to Ottoman readers, adding the Islamic stories popular among the Ottomans. Thus, Abdulghaffar Qirimi inscribed the history of the Jochids in Islamic history, and endowed the first Muslim Chingizid with the epithet of the disseminator of Islam. As a result, the history of the Golden Horde entered into the corpus of the general “Islamic histories” of Ottoman historiography, and the history of the Jochid as the history of the Ottoman dynasty became Islamic from the time of the founders of the Ulus of Jochi.

The institution of abistayhood known today, in one form or another, had been formed and had been functioning among the ancestors of the Tatars for hundreds of years. For centuries, the abistays played the role of mugallims, that is, teachers and spiritual mentors for Tatar women. The relevance of the topic of this work is due to the fact that it is an important component of such a problem as the history of female and Islamic education among the Tatars. Field materials collected by the author in the period from 2022 to 2024 are introduced into circulation. This article is the first study to provide a comprehensive description of the abistay phenomenon in terms of historical transformations. The work analyzes in detail the state of the institution of abistayhood in different historical periods before the beginning of the XX century. The contribution of the institution of abistayhood to the development of the education system of the Tatar people is understood. The features of the activities of the abistays and the versatility of their role in the life of Tatar society until the early twentieth century are revealed. The article also notes the merit of the abistays in preserving the national and cultural identity of the Tatar people.

The treatise “Akhir zaman Kitabi” (“The Book about the End of the World”) by Sulayman Baqirghani (1091–1186) is a significant work of 12^th century Sufi literature. Sulayman Baqirghani, also known as Hakim-Ata, was a prominent Turkic Sufi sheikh and a disciple of Ahmad Yasawi (1093–1166), the founder of the Yasawiyyah tariqah. His works had a significant influence on the development of Turkic religious literature. Suleyman Bakyrgani's ideas were reflected in the works of subsequent generations of poets and thinkers, such as Sh. Zaki (1822–1865), A. Kargaly (1782–1833), and M. Kutush-Kypsaki (1763–1849). The first edition of "Akhir zaman kitabi" was published in 1846. It was then republished in the Chagatai dialect of the Turkic language in 1860, 1897, 1900, 1901, 1906, and 1908. The translation of this treatise into Russian was completed by Archpriest Evfimy Aleksandrovich Malov (1835-1918) in 1897, which became an important contribution to the development of Islamic studies. E.A. Malov was a professional missionary, professor at the Kazan Theological Academy in the department of anti-Islamic subjects, one of the prominent representatives of the “Kazan school of Oriental studies," and archpriest of the Epiphany Church in Kazan. His translation of the treatise “Akhir zaman kitabi” has an unambiguous missionary character and is therefore overloaded with commentary and explanations in favor of the Orthodox point of view, which cannot but affect the accuracy of the transmission of the original content. E.A. Malov emphasizes the eschatological aspects of the treatise, critically highlighting the differences between Islamic and Christian understandings of the end of the world. Despite its missionary focus, E.A. Malov's translation has become an important source for the study of Islamic eschatology and Sufi literature in the Russian-language context. It has contributed to introducing a wider audience to Muslim understandings of the end of the world, albeit in an interpretation geared toward a Christian audience.

The Mountain Side is a historical territory in the southwest of modern Tatarstan and adjacent regions. The article reconstructs the history of Muslim spiritual culture of this territory. The main method of the work is historical and genealogical analysis. For this purpose, narratives and a large array of documentary sources from state archives were studied. The authors presented the family and cultural ties between the different historical regions of Tatar residence, the active interaction between different dynasties of ulema and the traditions of mentoring. The publication contains an episode about one of the little-known branches of the genealogy of the Muslim theologian Shihab al-Din al-Marjani, as well as some other religious dynasties from the Mountain Side. They played a prominent role not only in their small homeland, but also beyond its borders.

The scientific relevance of the article is due to the possibilities of considering the processes of integration of Kazakh society into the all-Russian space through the interaction with various social strata of the Muslim Tatars of the Volga-Ural region and Siberia. The study of the role of the Tatars in the implementation of the cultural mission on the outskirts of Russia has not lost its relevance today. It is in demand not only from the point of view of ensuring Russia's geopolitical interests in the Central Asian region, but also in terms of preserving historically established cultural, economic and spiritual ties. The article is devoted to the study of the influence of the Tatar agricultural, morals and manners culture on the Kazakhs moving to a settled lifestyle. The leading approach to the study of this problem was the comparative-contrastive method of research, which made it possible to comprehensively disclose the elements of the Kazakh and Tatar morals and manners cultures in a comparative sense, as well as the retrospective method, that traces the past events, contributing to the most complete image of the issue. As a result of the study, it was revealed that in the process of transition to agriculture, the Kazakhs had chosen the Tatar but not the Russian approach. The Kazakhs’ lifestyle became closely connected with Muslim culture, which was significantly influenced by Muslim Tatars, despite the efforts of Orthodox missionaries to convert the Kazakhs to Orthodoxy. The materials of the article can be useful in compiling museum expositions of an ethnographic nature, as well as for teaching special courses in higher educational institutions with historic specialties.

Muslim officers of the Russian Empire played a crucial role in both military and spiritual life within the empire. They were responsible for not only combat duties but also for ensuring that their soldiers adhered to religious traditions, such as fasting during Ramadan and following halal dietary practices. During World War I, Muslim officers demonstrated exceptional courage and strategic skills, particularly on the Caucasian and Eastern fronts. However, with the rise of Soviet power after the October Revolution of 1917, many officers found themselves in a difficult position, having to either emigrate or support the White Army during the Civil War. The study of their contributions reveals important aspects of serving in a multi-ethnic army and balancing religious loyalty with duty to the state.

This article is dedicated to the analysis of the study and interpretation of a significant element of the infrastructure of Russian Muslims in the Orenburg region, namely ziyarat and cemeteries. The initial material was collected during the compilation of a series of encyclopedic dictionaries entitled "Islam in the Russian Federation," published by Medina Publishing House. It is concluded that ziyarat and cemeteries constitute vital components of Muslim infrastructure. In this context, their role has been significant, although currently underestimated, in preserving Muslim identity. Their importance notably increased during the Soviet era, characterized by the closure and confiscation of various infrastructure elements, including mosques, educational institutions, publishing activities, media outlets, and charitable organizations. This raises the issue of the necessity for further research and the preservation of cemeteries and ziyarat as fundamental components of the Muslim infrastructure.

The article is devoted to the role of Sufism in the spiritual life of Dagestan, based on the legacy of Sheikh Sayf-Allah-Qadi Bashlarov. The author considers the historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of the tariqas associated with the sheikh, and emphasizes the importance of his spiritual school in shaping the Islamic identity of the region. Special attention is paid to the influence of his disciples on the formation of Islamic education in Dagestan and the preservation of spiritual continuity amid the political and social upheavals of the 20^th century. The article also highlights the development of the Shadhili tariqa and its features as a spiritual school. Additionally, it explores the relevance of Bashlarov’s legacy for contemporary religious leadership and how his teachings contribute to maintaining the balance between Islamic tradition and the needs of modern Muslim society.

The presented research attempts to comprehend the main Islamic methodological approaches, starting with those developed in the classical period of the formation of Islamic theological thought, and ending with modern epistemological alternatives proposed by the representatives of the moderately traditionalist and integrative Islamic thought. At the beginning of the paper, the methodological foundation of Islamic theological research is considered, that is represented by two fundamental principles of Islam – the principle of monotheism (mabda’ al-tawhid) and the principle of tradition (mabda’ al-naql), as well as methodological supports in the form of an integrative principle (mabda’ takamul), the principle of unity in diversity (mabda’ al-tawhid fi al-ikhtilaf) and the principle of a holistic approach in education (...), contributing to a harmonious combination of Islamic and secular approaches in the research activities of modern theological researchers. Then the author provides the information about six main Muslim methodological schools formed at the dawn of Islamic thought, four of which (Ahl al-Hadith, Ash‘ari, Maturidi, Sufi) represent the doctrine of orthodox Sunni (traditional) Islam, having unanimity in fundamental issues and diversity in secondary ones, creating methodological polyphony. Then, modern Islamic methodological trends (modernism, neo-modernism, ultramodernism), which are different from the traditional ones, are analyzed, challenging the Islamic tradition (naql), which no longer indicates polyphony, but methodological dissonance, the answer to which was Islamic neotraditionalism, aimed at overcoming methodological chaos (imbalance). As a result of the analysis of various Islamic methodological trends, starting from the “pre-modern” era and ending with the “modern” period, in conclusion, the most optimal methodological approaches for the training of Muslim theologians in Russia are proposed, represented by the moderate traditionalist approach of M.Sa‘id M. Ramadan al-Buti and the concept of knowledge integration (takamul al-ma‘rifah), developed by representatives of the school of Islamic integrative thought, offering specific Islamic methodological alternatives to the modern secular space.

The article reveals the importance of the political and missionary role of clergymen during the Special Military Operation. The conditions for the effectiveness of their work in the Russian Armed Forces are substantiated: reference to the country's historical experience, understanding the prospects for interaction between various confessions and the Russian security agencies. The authors describe a philosophically grounded program for training specialists with an in-depth knowledge of Islamic culture and history for work in the Russian Armed Forces. It consists of a number of actions: the appointment of imams; the creation and operation of the Coordinating Interfaith Council under the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Chief of the Main Military and Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; the holding of federal-level military clergy training sessions; and the organization and holding of seminars and round tables at the regional and federal levels. The article describes the experience of the Republic of Bashkortostan in the field of working with military personnel within the framework of the functioning of the Russian Islamic University of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia (Ufa).

In recent years, there has been an active development of psychological counseling for Muslims in Russia. Russian experts have described the potential and the possibilities of adapting various psychotherapeutic methods to Muslim clients. One of these methods is Positive Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, a comprehensive psychodynamic approach with a positive humanistic perspective, developed by Nossrat Peseschkian, a German psychotherapist of Iranian origin. The idea of transculturality is embedded in the very foundation of the method by its creator, so the most important qualities of a psychologist are, from the point of view of psychodynamic psychotherapy, openness to the new and unknown, flexibility, optimism, and a religious and spiritual worldview. The transformation of values and the change in role concepts, as well as behavior that does not conform to cultural norms, are associated with modernization processes, migrations, and urbanization, leading to an ever-expanding repertoire of cultural norms and role models, which is important for a counseling professional to be aware of. In this regard, the development of a psychologist’s intercultural competence is a crucial task in any country and culture. 

 The basic ideas of positive psychodynamic psychotherapy, such as maintaining balance in various areas of a person’s life and promoting harmonious development, align perfectly with Islamic values. The processing of conflicts, the development of primary abilities, and the positive interpretation of symptoms can be achieved by drawing on Islamic values and resources. Parables, stories (for example, from the lives of prophets), religious ideas, and values used in the process of psychological counseling are considered to provide the clients with the basics of identification, as well as protection, and may sometimes offer unexpected solutions to the problems. They also help expand the client’s repertoire of concepts, values, and conflict resolutions. 

Islamic values influence the choice of behaviors within Muslim families. The regulation of marital relations involves the use by spouses of canonical sources, the legal system, faith resources designed to stabilize relations. Conflict, as part of family life, can significantly affect the well-being and future of family members. The social significance of the conflict also depends on the ability of a Muslim woman to choose internal and external sources for resolving the conflict. Studying the practices used by a Muslim woman to resolve conflicts in the family, the causes of conflicts, her attitude to conflicts will improve mechanisms for promoting cooperation between family members in situations of protracted and acute contradictions. An analysis of the forms of support for Muslim women in conflict covered on the Muslim website will reveal the institutional framework in which she is invited to act to resolve the conflict. It is concluded that along with personal resources of faith and classical Islamic forms of assistance in conflict, the Muslim woman uses private, not religiously motivated practices. Actualization when dealing with the conflict of a complex gender identity based on the Quran can have multilevel consequences. The spouse's ideas about gender hierarchy, as an integral part of the Muslim tradition, are used by her selectively and situationally, at the same time, these scenarios, if responsibly observed, can compensate for the actions of social changes that threaten the integrity of the personality of a Muslim woman, Muslim family and ummah.