New Documents on the Life of Moscow Mosques in the 1920s

The article is based on newly discovered archival fi les and informs on attempts of believers to obtain the permission of the authorities to teach Muslim doctrine in Moscow mosques – Zamoskvoretskaya mosque and 2 nd mosque in Vypolzov Lane during 1928–1929, as well as, the reaction of governing institutions to these appeals. The issue of the Muslim religious education and its state in Moscow before the Russian Revolution of 1917 is considered. In addition, the author provides biography facts of the spiritual leaders of the 2 nd mosque in Vypolzov Lane, who were subjected to repressions in 1928–1931, and reports on the 1929 elections, that were held to elect new leaders of the mosque instead of repressed heads. The copies of archival data likewise accompany the study as an appendix and allow the author to judge the progress and nature of these elections.