Saint Petersburg served from the end of the nineteenth century as a transit point for Mishär Tatars moving to the Grand Duchy of Finland. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a small community had already formed in Finland, but its members maintained regular contacts with their relatives and connections in the Sergach district (Nizhny Novgorod province), Saint Petersburg and other regions. Contrary to common belief, these ties were not interrupted even after the October Revolution of 1917. Throughout most of the 1920s, Tatars and others crossed the Soviet-Finnish border illegally. Tatars living in independent Finland also sent considerable financial aid to theircontacts in Leningrad with the help of couriers.

The nature of the ties between the Tatar emigrants in Finland and the Tatars of Leningrad can be illustrated by the materials of one criminal case. This case was instituted by the Soviet political police against representatives of the Tatar Muslim community in Leningrad in 1931. Only after several arrests and tightening border control was communication between the Tatars in Finland and Leningrad interrupted. I suggest that the Mishär Tatars in Leningrad and Finland constituted a single social and cultural space until the 1930s, when the connections between them were blocked. The ensuing divide had a large impact on the identity of the Tatars living in Finland, who began developing a separate Finnish Tatar identity just a few years after the termination of contacts.

This dissertation presents a full-fledged portrait of the muftiate (spiritual administration of Muslims) in modern Russia. Designed initially for the purpose of controlling religious activity, over time the institution of the muftiate was appropriated by Muslims and became a key factor in preserving national identity for different ethnic groups of Tatars. In modern Russia numerous muftiates play the controversial role of administrative bodies responsible for the enforcement of some aspects of domestic and foreign policy on behalf of the state.

Bekkin’s research focuses on muftiates in the European part of Russia, examining both their historical development and their functioning in the modern context. The analysis draws on academic literature, written and oral texts produced by the ministers of the Islamic religion, and archival sources, as well as numerous interviews with current and former muftis and other Islamic bureaucrats. Following Douglass North’s theory of institutions, the author distinguishes between the muftiate as an institution and the muftiate as a religious organization. In the first case the muftiate encompasses a set of rules (restrictions) that are both formal (reflected in the laws, charters of spiritual administrations of Muslims) and informal (not reflected in the legislation). Individual Islamic religious organizations (muftiates in a narrow sense) function according to these rules. By analyzing both the formal and informal precepts which regulate the status and the activity of spiritual administrations of Muslims in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and continue to do so in modern Russia, the author makes an attempt to explain the viability of the institution of the muftiate.

Basing himself in the theory of the economics of religion, the author treats Russian muftiates as firms competing in the Islamic segment of the religious market. He applies economic principles in analyzing how the muftiates interact with each other, with other religious organizations in Russia, and with the Russian state. The author provides his own classification of muftiates in Russia, depending on the role they play in the religious market.

Under conditions of competition with other federal muftiates, the Central Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Russia (TsDUM) has developed adeliberate focus on maintaining good relations with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). This paper analyses the strategy of TsDUM and its mufti Talagat Tadzhuddin regarding the ROC. The author argues that Tadzhuddin’s actions indicate hemay be playing a more complicated game than his policy of cleaving closely to the ROC of itself suggests. Against researchers and experts who consider Tadzhuddin’s actions irrational, the author argues Tadzhuddin is a skilful strategist who has deliberat elydonned the mask of the holy fool (yurodivy). The author also offers a brief overview of the history of TsDUM in the 1990s and 2000s, exploring the reasons behind the disintegrative processes within the muftiate that began in 1992.

В настоящей статье мы рассмотрели характер связей петербургского ахуна А. Баязитова в среде петербургских литераторов и ученых. Одной из фигур, с которой некоторые авторы вслед за поэтом и публицистом В.Л. Величко связывают имя Баязитова, был философ В.С. Соловьев. Мы попытались выяснить характер отношений между мусульманским богословом и христианским мыслителем.

This article looks into the history of Muslim community of Petrograd Leningrad during the Soviet time. The author pays special attention to its little-known and understudied aspects by referring to a wide range of sources from oral memoirs to diary extracts. Of particular importance are photographic materials from state and private photo archives. The picture helps to provide a broader view of the history of Muslim community, both from the standpoint of a photographer and through the eyes of believers themselves. Special focus is made on the life of the two imam-khatibs of the Leningrad Cathedral Mosque: Yakub Halekov and Hafiz Mahmutov. The author examines how official and unofficial leaders and institutions governing TatarMuslim community in Leningrad and a number of towns in the Leningrad region emerged and worked. Some photographs coming from private archives often serve as a starting point for a broader study of forms of Islam in the Soviet Union.