This issue is devoted to two main topics. Sh. Shikhaliyev, A. Navruzov, P. Alibekova, and N. Tagirova tell about Dagestan’s Muslim sources, both handwritten and printed. Phenomenon of muftiates and their relations with the state is revealed in the articles of D. Arapov, V. Bobrovnikov, A. Khabutdinov, and M. Roschin, and A. Vasiliev draws an Ottoman Turkish parallel with Russian muftiates.

In addition, P.V. Basharin writes about the status of “Mahdist” movements in the Middle East of X century and their connection to the political struggle in the caliphate. M.A. Musayev and Sh.Sh. Shikhaliev write about the miracles of the saints described in the Dagestan Arabic-language Sufi biographical work by Shu'ayb al-Bagini, “Tabaqat al-Khwajakan al-Naqshbandiyya wa sadat masha’ikh al-Khalidiyya al-Mahmudiyya.”