Hussain Faizhanov's ideas on reforming the Muslim education as a sign of time

The author analyses the activity of such a bright personality as H. Faizhanov - an outstanding Tatar public figure, teacher, historian, orientalist-turcologist, specialist in the study of early texts, calligrapher that came from Nizhny Novgorod Tatar community. The object of the present research is the project of educational reform that was planned by the scientist for its realization in Tatar-Mussulmen environment. The materials of the article show that the author of the project - H. Faizhanov - reveals himself as a Russian scientist and educator, coming ahead of his time and persuading his contemporaries in the necessity of the reformation of Muslim education. Failed to be realized, the Faizhanov’s project exerted a great influence on the next educational practices of Russian society and stimulated Muslim Tatars’ school reforms that were later manifested in the development of a new education method (that was called “usul-dzhadid” - dzhadidizm). Furthermore, the author puts forward the problem of combination of Faizhanov’s ideas with new elements of imperial politics towards so-called “non-Russians”. The scientific novelty of this article is that the author treats the activity of H. Faizhanov as the fact of expression of forming tendencies of the middle of the the 19th centure, notably - the unification of Russian people of ethnicity and confession.