R. M. MUKHAMETZYANOVA-DUGGAL Candidate of Political Sciences З. R. KHABIBULLINA (Ufa) The conditions for meeting the religious needs of Muslims in different periods of Russian history had certain specifics. In tsarist Russia, religious institutions were dependent on the state, and their activities were regulated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local government agencies. Performing the Hajj, which was fraught with many difficulties, was a rare and extremely expensive event. The duration of the hajj ranged from six months to several years, and it was performed by a small number of people, mostly clerics, so there was no special need for it to be organized by the state. Sometimes pilgrims had to abandon their journey due to the closure of Russian borders in the event of plague epidemics in eastern countries. During the Soviet period, the number of pilgrims was strictly regulated (no more than 20-30 people from all over the country), candidates were strictly selected and checked by the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR and security agencies. As a rule, they were nomenclatural cultural figures, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Central Asian republics, loyal representatives of the spiritual elite, and Muslim veterans of war and labor. During the period of Perestroika and especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of people willing to go on the Hajj increased. The first large group of pilgrims from the USSR (about 1.5 thousand people) arrived in Mecca in 1990.1 This opportunity appeared for Russian Muslims in the late 80's and early 90's. Since religious associations in Russia are separated from the state, pilgrimage as a religious rite falls within the competence of religious organizations. The State cannot establish firm rules and restrictions on Hajj. As a result, the main task of establishing contacts with Saudi Arabia to send pilgrims fell on the shoulders of the spirit ... Read more