Moscow: Dom Marjani Publishing House, 2011, 560 p. (Islam and Modernity)

The topic chosen by the author fully corresponds to one of the most promising areas of modern Russian Oriental studies - the study of socio-economic trends and realities of Eastern societies, which in this case are inextricably linked with religious structures and customs. This is the basis for the scientific relevance and significance of the monograph, the novelty of which lies in the fact that in this aspect - through the prism of the traditional Islamic religious and charitable institute of Waqf-the history of Turkey is considered for the first time in Russian and Western historiography.

Since the VIII century. in the Islamic world, then united by the Arab Caliphate, the formation of a specific form of Muslim property - waqfs-began, which later became the most important social institution, which "for centuries determined many aspects of socio - economic and religious life" (pp. 12-13). One can agree with the retrospective assessment of the waqf not only as a "religious and legal institution", but also as "an important socio-economic category that has not lost its significance in Muslim societies today" (p.12).

The author examines this phenomenon in the public life of the country for 85 years, i.e., in fact, throughout the entire modern history of Turkey. These circumstances alone make a peer-reviewed monograph groundbreaking. The fact that P. V. Shlykov was able to work thoroughly in Turkish archives and libraries adds even more value to the research. In addition, as a fellow of one of the waqfs in 2006 - 2007, the author had the opportunity to get acquainted with the mechanism of functioning of these institutions from the inside, to personally communicate with people associated with the work of such charitable foundations in modern Turkey. All this allowed him to

to understand different aspects of the existence of the waqf institute in Turkey and show the ambivalent nature of modern waqfs.

As you know, the success of scientific work depends on the sources, and their significance and diversity in this case surprises and pleases. Excellent knowledge of not only Turkish, but also the Ottoman language with its Arabic graphics, as well as Western languages (English and French) allowed P. V. Shlykov to maximize the range of sources and scientific literature attracted. Among the sources, he processed and analyzed a wide variety of documents: regulatory acts of the Republic of Turkey, starting from the 1920s, laws on waqfs, as well as a wider range of legal documents that made it possible to trace the changing attitude towards waqfs on the part of the state (by-laws, charters, waqf charters, and much more). Documentary sources created the necessary foundation for research, and then other materials were attracted: official speeches and publications of political figures, memoirs and writings of contemporaries, etc. Careful comparison and analysis of diverse sources (not only materials from Turkish archives and a significant number of published documents, but also mass sources that are difficult to process and extremely rarely used by researchers) greatly increased the scientific value of the study.

In the second most important part of the introduction (p.14-25), in fact, an integrated description of domestic and foreign scientific literature on the problem of waqfs and related issues of socio - political development of the Middle East region at different stages of its historical path is given. Probably, the overwhelming majority of scientific studies of various origins are considered here, and it is convincingly shown that this topic in its entirety has never been the object of special research. In addition, a critical analysis is presented, indicating the specific strengths and weaknesses of various works in their origin. As the author rightly writes, " among the published works of Western, Russian and Turkish authors, there are very few studies devoted to the peculiarities of the Waqf activity in the XX century and analyzing their evolution in the framework of the modernization of social, political and economic structures carried out in different countries of the Muslim world... The view of the Waqf as a medieval Muslim institution, unable - despite its amazing "adaptive capabilities" - to adapt to existence under secular regimes, not only hindered the development of this institution in the twentieth century, but also affected the nature of scientific research. If there is a need for strict selection of scientific literature in the study of Ottoman waqfs due to the large number of publications, then in the case of "modern" waqfs, the opposite situation arises" (pp. 21-22).

In chapter 1, "Socio-historical foundations of Waqfs", P. V. Shlykov examines in detail the concepts of the emergence and development of waqfs, analyzes the economic, religious, cultural, and socio-philosophical factors of their wide distribution in the Middle Ages and modern times. It is extremely important that the author substantiates the thesis about the complementarity of these factors ,which "determined the universal ability of waqfs to meet individual, group and state needs, as well as the duration of the institution's existence" (pp. 42-43). The chapter focuses on the socio-economic significance of waqfs in the Ottoman state and their place in the socio-political life of the empire at various stages of its historical path. The wide distribution and activity of the waqfs (which included agricultural land, small-scale production, shopping centers, and residential complexes) show that they played a significant role in the economy of the Ottoman State. Moreover, even a single large waqf could determine a significant share of the economic activity of a particular region (for example, the waqf of Suleiman's wife Kanuni Hurrem-Sultan, or Roksolana, in Jerusalem).

Waqfs were deeply integrated into various sectors of the economy, which allowed them to meet a wide variety of needs: "a person could be born in a waqf house, sleep in a cradle purchased with waqf money and eat at its expense, read books from the waqf library, and then become a teacher in a waqf school and receive a salary from the waqf, and finally die and to be buried in the cemetery belonging to the Waqf, in a coffin also purchased with the Waqf's funds" (p. 48). The author comes to the conclusion that waqfs were an important factor of social policy, having, on the one hand, service-charitable, and on the other - social-integrative functions. According to the author, "the waqfs maintained hospitals, orphanages and orphanages, while others simply supported the welfare of a narrow circle of people (in some cases

in the sense of "clients"), and not necessarily the poor... It was not uncommon for waqfs to take on the costs of maintaining the water supply system, fortifications, and a whole range of" social programs " (assistance to disabled and retired sailors and artisans, or children in need). There were even waqfs with rather exotic goals, allocating funds for the maintenance of animals" (p. 45).

A separate section of the first chapter is devoted to the problems of reforming the Waqf system in the Ottoman Empire, it shows the dynamics of this process and reveals the main features of the state policy of the authorities in relation to waqfs. Since the productivity and social utility of the institute had clearly declined by the 19th century, the authorities tried to establish direct control over the Waqfs and their revenues. However, the scale, diversity and degree of ramification of the Waqf system were such that, in fact, the real activity of the Ministry of Waqf established in 1826 was mostly limited to the formal registration of decisions taken locally by Muslim judges (qadis, nazirs, mutevelli). In fact, as the author shows, the waqf system remained as decentralized as possible, and was regulated to a much greater extent by family and corporate relations, rather than by state relations. As a result, the desire to concentrate the management of disparate waqfs in one hand, which was supposed to proceed from the installation of centralization and building a "power vertical", and the desire to force the Waqf system to serve the interests of the state, thereby reducing the financial and political influence of religious circles, i.e. the main goals and objectives of creating the ministry remained unfulfilled, The Young Turks and Kemalists have already developed approaches to their solution.

The second chapter, "Waqfs during the Kemalist Revolution and during the First Republic," is devoted to a detailed analysis of various aspects of the existence of waqfs in the 1920s and 1940s. The focus is on the causes and consequences of changes in the perception of the Waqf institution by Turkish society, the new configuration of the Waqf control and management system being built by Kemalists, and the formation of a strategy for "secularization" and alienation of Waqf property. All these issues are considered in close connection with the socio-political context, as part of the Kemalist program to modernize and Westernize Turkey, turning it into a modern state.

The author takes the position that the radical reform of the Waqf system in the first decades of republican history fully fit into Mustafa Kemal's concept of building relations between the state and religion. The task that the new government set for itself was not so much to separate religion from the state, but to subordinate it to the state machine. By displacing Islam not only from politics and economics, but also from the sphere of culture and education, the state established total control over spiritual life, seeking to destroy the religious basis of public culture, introducing new, pro-Western values instead of traditional Islamic ones. Not daring to completely abolish the waqf institution, the Kemalists tried to "secularize" it in a certain sense, destroying any connection between the waqfs and Muslim piety in order to "put them at the service of Turkish nationalism" (p.93).

The author draws attention to a rather interesting fact: "The Kemalists, seeking to break the genetic link between the newly created waqfs and the old ones, and the new norms and their lexicon with the old traditions, introduced the term "foundation" or "institution/organization" (tesis) in the Civil Code of 1926, designed to replace and replace the concept of "waqf"... Henceforth, only" foundations "established in pre-Republican times under the old Islamic laws should be called" waqfs" (p.94). The legal formalization of the new Waqf management system was completed by 1935, when Law No. 2762 on waqfs was adopted, defining the status and regulating the activities of the old waqfs. It was during this period that the classification of waqfs, which still exists in Turkey, was introduced - dividing them into two groups: "old" (pre-republican) and "new", created in accordance with the norms of the Civil Code and referred to simply as "institutions/organizations" until 1967 (p.95).

In the second chapter, each paragraph is closely related to all the others and each is very significant. But, perhaps, the last "Withdrawal and redistribution of waqf lands and real estate" sums up the whole period in a certain sense. In particular, on the pages of the section, the mechanism of redistribution is prescribed, both through auctions and by expropriation. Of course, the author formulates the main subject of analysis of these processes, and then studies who will become the new owner of arable land, forests, fields, and others

land plots. As the reader can see, the range of new owners is very wide: the state itself, large landowners (in this case, one of the social pillars of the regime - liberal landlords), the rural elite, and representatives of certain social groups. In this context, the conclusion of P. V. Shlykov that "...until 1945, the Turkish government actually did not start agrarian reform - a real redistribution of land in favor of the peasants" (p.122) is of particular importance. In the following pages, it is precisely how two problems intertwine in the post-war period-expropriation of waqf lands and attempts to solve the problem of small-scale farmers. The social significance of these processes, as well as the scientific one, is obvious.

The third and final chapter, symbolically titled "The Revival of the Waqf system and its New Role in Modern Turkish Society," explores the realities of the past fifty years. First, we consider the reformation (or anti-reformation in relation to Kemalist measures)that largely determined the present state of affairs The author then examines the formation of the "new" Waqf sector after 1967, the costs of their revival for modern Turkey, and, finally, the trends in the development and functioning of Waqfs in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. All sections of the third chapter are equally important. But still, the third section on the downside of Waqf revival carries a special burden. First, it examines the process that is relevant to almost all areas of modern public life in the country: economy, politics, social life, demography, education, etc.; second, the realities and consequences associated with modern Waqf policies are by no means ambiguous, often contradictory, and sometimes simply dangerous.

The author convincingly shows that waqfs, as structures that combine the features of socio-political and financial-economic organizations, have become a convenient means of implementing the ideas of building an Islamic society and state in Turkey. First of all, Islamists began to establish waqfs for the dissemination of religious education: the creation of imam-khatib schools, courses in the study of the Koran and theological faculties, funding their activities and helping students there (this was to some extent consistent with the desire of the growing religious elite to take care of the reviving religious institutions). Another channel of public activity of Islamists was the creation of" their " waqfs of mutual assistance, as a result of close cooperation with Islamic financial organizations. Along with the Islamist waqfs of mutual aid and education, in the 1980s and 1990s, waqfs began to appear, which were characterized by ambitious programs in the field of Islamic research, mainly in the field of publishing (publication of scientific works, journals, production of audio and video materials). In addition, the organizational and functional capabilities of waqfs (including mutual aid waqfs) allowed the Sufi tariqats (banned and dissolved in 1925) to gradually come out of hiding, without coming into conflict with the current legislation. Often, waqfs even became structures of semi-official representation of tariqas and Islamist movements. In addition, as the author has shown, for political Islam movements, waqfs have proved to be the most important component of success. In the 1970s, politicians associated with the parties of Necmettin Erbakan were able to form a sufficient material, financial and personnel base of their organizations through the waqfs. The current ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is also characterized by the use of Waqf resources in its activities.

In all sections of the monograph, there are many tables that bring together a large amount of statistical material. It is equally important that each of them is provided with the author's conclusions and assessments. The most extensive statistics and collections of documents are available in the app, which gives the study reliability and great scientific and practical significance. Special attention is drawn to a very interesting selection of original and previously unpublished documents from Turkish archives with a parallel translation into Russian, a detailed glossary and an extensive annotated index of names, which, due to its richness, serves as a bibliographic reference book on the modern history of Turkey.

In general, P. V. Shlykov's monograph fills a certain gap that exists in Russian Oriental studies: the lack of fundamental research on the multifunctional role of the Waqf institute in modern Muslim countries, in particular the Republic of Turkey.

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