The policy of the Russian Empire in relation to Islam: modern foreign historiography

Abstract

The article analyzes the views of foreign authors on Russia's confessional policy towards Islam. Most of the written works concerning confessional politics in the empire reflect new and urgent problems.

In recent years, the spread of Islam in the Russian Empire and the religious aspects of its state policy towards Muslims have attracted the interest of many researchers. In the religious policy of the Russian Empire, the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly is of great importance. The article analyzes the opinions of a number of authors on this issue and their conclusions, as well as its impact on the Kazakh steppe. One of the characteristic features of the modern period of world history is a broad study based on the influence of the religious factor. In this context, foreign authors studying the religious policy of the Russian Empire, which includes a large number of Muslim peoples, consider the empire as a complex and multi-ethnic state. For foreign researchers, the empire is studied from the standpoint of the concept of a "confessional state" with the aim of interfering in world politics. American researchers, in particular, show the complex process of social regulation of various religious groups in the Russian Empire through religious institutions. Among them, it is necessary to study the performance of the Hajj, which is considered the most important duty of Muslims, along with the issue of education, socio-economic conditions also require special attention.  

Key words: Russian Empire, confessional politics, Islam, Hajj, religion.