An international conference under this name was held in Moscow on June 18-19, 2007. It was organized by the Russian non-profit organization "INO-Center (Information. Science. Education)" with the participation of the Carnegie Corporation (New York). The conference was made possible thanks to the program "Interregional Research in Social Sciences", implemented by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, "INO-Center" and the Institute named after V. I. Abramovich. Kennan, supported by the Carnegie Corporation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Among the participants (about 80 people) are ethnologists, economists, political scientists, historians, and journalists.

Conferences devoted to the problems of Islam, especially radical Islam, are regularly held in Russia and abroad. This conference can be considered a unique scientific event. It brought together Islamic scholars from Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the CIS countries, which allowed us to offer a comparative analysis of the approaches of Russian and foreign scientists on each topic. The conference focused on the methodology of studying modern Islam, and an attempt was made to analyze the accumulated experience and tools of research in the field of Islam in Russia and abroad.

A.V. Korshunov, President of INO-Center, addressed the forum participants with a welcoming speech. He defined the main goals of the conference. First, an analysis of the state of Islamic studies in Russia. Secondly, it is necessary to clarify the issues in which areas Russian Orientalists are superior to their Western colleagues, and where they are lagging behind; in what forms and in what areas cooperation between Russian and Western Islamic studies can be carried out.

I. V. Laktionova, Executive Director of the INO Center, referring to the organizational part of the conference, noted that each section included reports from both the Russian and American sides, which makes it possible to compare the approaches of the two scientific schools.

The conference participants were welcomed by employees of Carnegie X Corporation. Wisner and P. Rosenfeld spoke about the research in the field of Islam conducted by their organization, the Islamic Initiative and Muslims in the United States programs.

At the first section of the conference "Research in the Field of Islam: Current trends and methodological approaches", A.V. Malashenko (MGIMO, Carnegie Moscow Center) presented his report on the problems of methodology and historiography of Russian Islamic studies.

In his opinion, it is difficult to say that in the Soviet period Islamic studies was formed as a scientific direction and its any stable methodology. Separate scientists of various specialties - ethnologists, philologists, historians, philosophers-were engaged in the problems of Islam. This had a negative impact on the analysis of modern Islam in Russian historiography. For scholars of the Soviet period, there were two types of Islam: Islam in the USSR (which was quietly dying out under the socialist system as a relic of the past) and foreign Islam, where the most striking events took place. This is typical for Russian monographs of the 1970s and 1980s devoted to Islam. Thus, the original works of T. S. Saitbaev and G. M. Kerimov largely did not meet the political and ideological requirements for works on this topic. In general, the research of Russian Islamic scholars was secondary to Western ones, and about 80% of the works were compiled in nature.

A. V. Malashenko identified the second half of the 1980s as the next stage in the development of Russian Islamic studies. With the advent of "perestroika", scientists have the opportunity to-

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However, the ability to write about Islam more freely was still a taboo topic for researchers in the USSR. These were only the first attempts to go beyond the Marxist-Leninist methodology. Most scholars, not only Islamic scholars, but also historians, have turned to the civilizational approach in search of an alternative methodology. Within the framework of this approach, orientalists have done much to study Islam. The use of a sociological approach was also new in the methodology, and the first surveys were conducted. The greatest success was achieved by scientists from Tatarstan and Dagestan, especially since by the end of the 1990s surveys had become quite professional, although the figures obtained in the course of sociological research are not always identical with reality, and therefore it is dangerous to absolutize them. The use of the methodology of political science has become very important in the field of updating the tools, but political science methods and concepts were used fragmentally and in a purely applied aspect. At the same time, Russian political scientists lacked knowledge of Islam, and orientalists lacked political science. The situation began to change in the late 1990s, when the first successful publications were published at MGIMO. According to A.V. Malashenko, without the involvement of political science methods, Islamic studies cannot develop further, because otherwise it is difficult to understand the problems of political Islam. An interesting trend in the Russian historiography of Islam in recent years has been that Islamic studies have been productively studied by people working at the intersection of Islamic theology and secular science.

One of the most important problems noted by A.V. Malashenko in the search for a new methodology and the formation of domestic Islamic studies was the need to develop and unify the conceptual apparatus, Islamic terminology (jihadism, neo-fundamentalism, Islamism). This is especially important for Russia, as confusion reigns not only in scientific publications, but also in the media, speeches of politicians and government representatives. Of course, it would be good to establish some dialogue between scientists and society in this regard.

The need to develop interdisciplinary research in science has been discussed for a long time, but this is directly related to Islamic studies. It is very important that scientists studying Islam have both religious studies, political science, sociology, and history training and strive to take into account the methodological features of these sciences in their research.

D. Davis, Professor of Eurasian Studies at Indiana University (USA), made the next report on the problems facing modern Islamic studies. He noted that the current interest in Islam is primarily due to political processes in the Middle East, South-East and Central Asia, and the Caucasus. In this regard, a significant number of political scientists among scholars dealing with Islam rely primarily on the methods of political science. Davies stressed that this is not enough for the successful development of Islamic studies, and even more so, the politicization of Islamic studies should not be allowed. On the contrary, in his opinion, it is necessary to introduce the results of in-depth historical studies of Islamic civilization into the analysis of modern events in the political life of Muslim countries. The need to use this methodological approach is explained by the fact that the trends of modern political development in Arab countries can be understood only if we take into account the centuries-old history of Islam and its distribution area.

Modern Islamic studies also faces the problem of borders, fragmentation of the object of research, related to the complex and interdisciplinary nature of this science. On the one hand, representatives of various branches of Islamic studies - ethnologists, political scientists, historians, etc. - often have little contact with each other. On the other hand, researchers pay attention only to individual Muslim regions. D. Davis is convinced that it is necessary to pay attention to Islam as a whole and to the entire Muslim world in order to understand the global trends and processes taking place in it.

Another important factor determining success in the study of Islam both in the United States and in Russia is the close cooperation between research centers within individual countries and the intensification of international relations between specialists in Islamic studies and scientific institutions. The next aspect that requires attention in Islamic studies is related to religious studies. When studying Islam, religious scholars focus on the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which sometimes leads to the absolutization of the conclusions obtained, understanding other phenomena in Islam mainly through the prism of written sources. In conclusion, the speaker noted that throughout his scientific activity, he always followed the development of Soviet and Russian IP-

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The author notes that the progress of the latter in overcoming the shortcomings that A.V. Malashenko pointed out in his speech is obvious.

At the section "Islamic Secularism", the rector of the Russian Islamic University (Kazan) R. M. Mukhametshin noted that modern society as a whole is secular, however, religious and secular components can be distinguished in it. Secular discourse is given a public and universal status, but this approach contributes to the radicalization of religious discourse and pushes it towards the same universalism. Secularism is usually understood as a social concept that explains the process of society's liberation from religion. R. M. Mukhametshin identified three aspects in secularism: 1) laicization - the displacement of religious institutions from public life; 2) changes in religion itself that occur under the influence of modern life; 3) a decrease in the influence of religion on individuals, i.e. the loss of faith in certain dogmas. At present, scientists have abandoned the ultra-liberal view of religion, which originated in the second half of the XVIII century, as a repressive institution aimed at suppressing the free self-development of the individual. Now a moderate approach is widespread, based on the fact that religion performs functions that are useful for a person and society, and therefore it is acceptable, but if an important condition is met: religious consciousness must develop a tolerant attitude towards other faiths, not reject secular sciences and not contradict the constitution. If these conditions are not met, R. M. Mukhametshin noted, religion can show its destructive potential. For this reason, secularization today should be considered as a process of autonomizing individual cultural areas from a single religious foundation. This means that we have entered a post-secular era, the first feature of which is the penetration of the secular into the religious. The second is the loss of a single basic identity, i.e. the absence of an identity that is rigidly interwoven with religiosity. The third feature is the desire to liberate the religious from the transcendent.

In modern Russia, secularism should be considered in the context of the process of Islamic revival. R. M. Mukhametshin identified two ways to convey the question of Islam to secular Russian society without breaking the spiritual and cultural community. First, it is the assimilation of formal ritual aspects of religious activity, i.e., a return to spiritual origins, which is carried out through religious symbols and behavioral models developed and accumulated in traditional Islamic communities of Russia. Secondly, it is an attempt to start religious and cultural construction from a new leaf through social construction, while using alien, non-traditional traditions and values for Russian Islam. This is manifested in the absolutization of external forms of religious life: creeds, rituals. But in the first version, the potential for renewal is poorly represented, in the second version, the existing cultural and historical forms are rejected, and the rejection of tradition in religion is quite dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the best features of both approaches.

R. M. Mukhametshin noted that in Russia, since the mid-1990s, many spiritual directorates of Muslims (DMS) have created vertical structures for managing the Muslim community, which were not given the right to pursue an independent policy of dialogue with the state. DUM recognized two conditions that the state requires them to fulfill: loyalty and laicism. But this is not enough to formulate your political position and occupy a certain niche in a secular society. Unfortunately, the current situation suits both the Duma and state authorities. According to the speaker, the Russian Muslim community needs to rethink its activities.

Head of the Department of Conflictology and Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy (Azerbaijan) A. S. Yunusov believes that the problems of Islam in a particular society and in different countries cannot be combined, as they are too different. An Islamic researcher should assume that Islam in the Arab world differs from Islam in Central Asia, the Caucasus, etc.

Deputy of the Moscow City Duma, member of the Expert Council of the Commission on Interethnic and Interfaith Relations G. N. Engelhardt devoted his speech at the section "Islamic radicalism" to the problem of terminology in Islamic studies. It should be borne in mind that political Islam and Islamic radicalism are different phenomena. The author of the report identified the following criteria that should be used to determine whether a particular trend in Islam is radical or not: the group's attitude to violence, to other faiths-

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the desire to reorganize the whole society, the extent to which the group actualizes external problems in its discourse.

I. P. Dobaev, Head of the Department of Geopolitics and Information Analysis at the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Rostov-on-Don), noted that countering Islamic radicalism in Russia is hindered by the religious illiteracy of the population in the regions where Islam is spread, the financial and organizational weakness of official Islamic structures, and the lack of a clear state policy in the field of Islam.

F. Gergez, Head of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and International Relations (Sarah Lawrence College, New York), expressed his point of view on the problem of forming a single conceptual apparatus, focusing on the term "jihadism" and the criteria for determining an individual's belonging to this trend. In his opinion, the jihadist is committed to the idea of creating a pan-Islamic state. F. Gergez proposed a "generational" approach to the study of Islamic radicalism. For example, Islamists born in the 1960s were characterized by anti-Westernism. Members of the 1970s generation are focused on global jihad. Now there is an Iraqi generation focused on fighting locally against American forces. The combination of global jihad and opposition to the ruling regimes in certain Eastern countries allows extremists to pursue their policies more flexibly, attract a large number of supporters, and choose different methods of struggle.

Further, I. D. Zvyagelskaya (IB RAS) commented on the problem of Islamic radicalism. Methodological difficulties, she noted, may arise when defining an organization as extremist in conflict situations. After all, in this case, the conflict justifies the behavior of the party and its use of force. Such organizations are characterized by versatility. They can act as an armed force, as a social organization, replacing the state. When studying Islamist organizations in conflict situations, it should be borne in mind that their participation changes the conflict itself, since such groups do not seek compromise and peaceful settlement through negotiations.

Section " Islam in the XXI century: interaction of the past and present. "Traditional" and "non-traditional "Islam".

A. A. Yarlykapov (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted his speech to the problems of traditional and non-traditional Islam. In Russia, the question of what is traditional Islam arose in the 1990s. Soon after scientists coined the terms "traditional" and "non-traditional" Islam, the authorities adopted them, declaring that non-traditional Islam is harmful and that it must be fought. At the same time, the state structures did not understand these terms. Traditional Islam is often referred to as what remains of Russian Islam after 70 years of Soviet rule. But in reality, this is a deformed Islam, the "Islam of old men", which A. A. Yarlykapov calls pseudoislam. Radical Islam is also considered the Islam represented by the spiritual administrations of Muslims. This is especially true in the republics of the North-West Caucasus. In this region, Sufi Islam is often presented as traditional Islam, despite all its heterogeneity. And the last version of traditional Islam is ethnic. Non-traditional Islam is categorically declared bad, despite the fact that it is far from homogeneous. In view of this complex and uncertain situation, the author of the report sees the following most reasonable scenario for the authorities ' behavior towards Islam: a broad dialogue with all Islamic groups (with the exception of extremists) on all issues.

According to D. Deviz, traditional Islam should be understood as the Islam that has evolved in a certain territory over the centuries. Islamist organizations that reject long-term evolution and immediately appeal directly to the Prophet Muhammad can be considered fundamentalist. Fundamentalists do not need a history, they need a source, D. Davis concluded his speech.

Section "Islam and Education".

T. A. Kostyukova (Tomsk State University) in her report noted that the study of Islam requires a whole range of methodological approaches - socio-cultural, culturological, personality-oriented, activity-based, which should be able to apply so that they do not exclude, but complement each other.

Since the 1990s, Russia has seen a brown renaissance of Islam. The problem was that the education system did not respond to this. Meanwhile, according to the speaker, the secular education of-

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It should assume the functions of religious education, which should not be confused with religious education and upbringing, which is the prerogative of the religious community and family.

D. Z. Khayretdinov, a consultant of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Department of Islamic Education, being well acquainted with the system of Islamic education in Russia, focused on its problems and shortcomings. First, a purely Islamic education is insufficient in modern conditions. It is necessary to combine religious and secular education for imams. Secondly, the structure of Islamic education itself needs serious reform. Now it consists of several stages. At the very bottom are the mektebe - Sunday schools, which are primitive courses for the elimination of religious illiteracy. The next level is madrasahs where imams are trained. Classes are not regular, and in general, the quality of education is not much better than in mektebe. The last level in the system of Islamic education is Islamic universities, among which the most famous in the European part of Russia are Islamic universities in Kazan, Ufa and Moscow. A common problem for all types of educational institutions is that there are no clear criteria for distinguishing them, their own textbooks, and the number of their graduates is insignificant. A promising way to solve these problems is not only radical reform and state support for all levels of Islamic education, but also close cooperation of Islamic educational institutions with secular universities, such as the ISAA at Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University. In conclusion, the speaker expressed confidence that if the problem of Islamic education in Russia is solved, then in 6-8 years a new generation of Islamic leaders will appear who will successfully fight against manifestations of radicalism.

F. Gergez, commenting on the speeches on "Islam and education", once again emphasized that Islam does not have a rigid organizational structure like Christian churches. At the same time, he suggested that Islam will follow the same evolutionary path as Christianity, and will come to form a more rigid organizational structure, which will make it predictable.

At the end of the first day of the conference, M. Evangelista (Cornell University, Ithaca) presented the report "The relationship between the tender factor and nationalist movements in the context of Islam". Using the examples of the war of independence in Algeria, the conflicts in Chechnya, the former Yugoslavia, and Palestine, he showed that in Muslim regions, women play an important mobilizing role in relation to men - the main participants in conflicts - and thus participate in political processes.

On the second day of the conference, a seminar "Methodology for studying Islam" was held, where Russian and American researchers made presentations.

E. F. Kisriev, a well-known Islamic and Caucasian scholar (Caucasus Branch of the Center for Civilizational Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), emphasized that the methodology as an intellectual tool should correspond to the subject of research, i.e. the properties of the subject should determine those tools that help to learn it better. Islam is a very specific object of research, especially because it is not similar to European religions. Often this difference is not taken into account when choosing a methodology. Hence, there are problems in terminology, when the usual concepts of the church, dogmatics become unsuitable for Islam. Islam, according to E. F. Kisriev, is a constantly changing variety of forms. The speaker compared some Islamic scholars with theologians, as they often, as a rule, postulate what corresponds to the "true norms of Islam" and what contradicts. Islam should be studied in the forms in which we observe it. Therefore, the author of the report emphasized the importance of the phenomenological approach in choosing a methodology.

A. D. Savateev (Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences) devoted his speech to the problems of civilizations and their typology. The wide interest of Islamic scholars in this topic shows, he noted, that the civilizational approach still has many supporters in Islamic studies and its use can bear fruit.

N. Colton (Drew University, New Jersey) noted that for a long time, economists did not pay attention to Islam. But recently, the question has arisen as to whether the study of the economy of Islamic countries should be based on general economic approaches. There is also a question that economists should try to answer: is Islam a third way for humanity? Modern economists who study Islamic societies apply neo-

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the classic approach. Its essence is to study all aspects of the Islamic economy and history, which makes it possible to see general trends in development. The structural approach, which makes it possible to examine economic institutions in their relation to religion, is very useful from a methodological point of view.

Without taking into account and serious analysis of the Islamic factor, says K. Collins (University of Notre Dame, USA), it is impossible to understand the political processes taking place in the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Thus, in the 1990s, American scientists made a methodological mistake by focusing on the issues of democratization of the CIS countries and did not consider the Islamic factor. From a methodological point of view, it is very interesting to study the relations of religious organizations with various social groups: students, businessmen, politicians. The methodology is also influenced by the fact that everything is changing rapidly in Muslim countries. In this regard, the methodology should be situational in nature.

F. In his speech, Gergez noted that a number of acute and interesting issues were raised during the conference. Is it possible to use the same tools for studying Muslims in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Arab world? Does the current Islamic revival reflect deep trends in the Middle East region? According to the speaker, focusing on the problems of Islam, we should not forget about the socio-economic difficulties in the countries of the spread of Islam. For example, in Egypt, 40% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. It is necessary, in his opinion, to thoroughly investigate the extent to which the growth of Islamism is due to a painful reaction to socio-economic difficulties, Westernization and globalization. In the study of Islam, according to F. However, we should not assume that it is similar to other religions, but it is necessary to clearly identify common features between Christianity and Islam, and try to find some universals.

S. A. Mozgovoy (MSPU, Council of the Institute of Freedom of Conscience) once again raised the problem of terminology in connection with the activities of the historiographic direction, which he called "military Islamic studies". Thus, the term "Wahhabism", in his opinion, does not reveal the essence of the phenomenon, but only criminalizes it. Military specialists dealing with the problems of Islam are strongly committed to the concepts of clash of religions and cultures. However, the term "extremism" widely used by them is too general. The terms should be strictly scientific and verified, S. A. Mozgovoy noted.

K. Collins drew attention to the following condition that helps Russian Islamic scholars in organizing their research activities. Russia, unlike the United States, has an Academy of Sciences, and scientists do not work in isolation at their universities. The existing structure in Russia makes it easier to conduct interdisciplinary research, which is so necessary in Islamic studies.

P. Rosenfeld and K. Collins noted that this conference is really unique and very fruitful. To ensure that the experience gained in communication and exchange of scientific achievements is not lost, she suggested creating Russian-American network groups for the study of Islam.

I. D. Zvyagelskaya's speech suggested that one of the main tasks of Islamic studies is to link science with practice. The fact is that Islamic organizations are woven into the fabric of international relations. It is necessary to understand how they differ from national liberation movements. It is the clarification of this that is most important, and not the definition of an Islamist movement as fundamentalist, especially since fundamentalism itself is not negative and does not imply the use of force methods to achieve political goals.

In his closing speech, A.V. Malashenko stressed that a methodology is needed that will allow Islamic studies to confidently predict events in the region of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East. At one time, Islamic scholars were unable to predict the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and the dramatic surge of Islamic extremism in Algeria in the first half of the 1990s.Another problem facing Islamic scholars is the politicization of Islamic studies. Moreover, it is more acute in Russia than in the West. A.V. Malashenko also expressed the common opinion of the Russian and American sides on the need to develop close cooperation and conduct cross-border research, i.e., so that each individual researcher does not concentrate on his own small region or country.

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Thus, this conference is really unlike the numerous forums in Russia and abroad devoted to the problems of Islam. The positive outcome of the conference, which was of an international nature, was that the scientific developments of domestic Islamic scholars aroused the interest of their Western colleagues, especially since it is easier for Russian authors to study Islam in the post-Soviet space. It was noted that there are a number of research tasks in modern domestic and foreign Islamic studies that need to be solved for the successful development of this branch of knowledge: to develop a clear and unified conceptual framework, to conduct interdisciplinary research and, accordingly, to combine the methods of several sciences when considering one phenomenon, to use the achievements of Islamic studies in studying various political events and social phenomena in the territory of the spread of Islam. This means that Islamic studies, as a complex discipline new to Russian science, necessarily requires special attention to methodology when conducting research.

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