Bekkin’s research focuses on muftiates in the European part of Russia, examining both their historical development and their functioning in the modern context. The analysis draws on academic literature, written and oral texts produced by the ministers of the Islamic religion, and archival sources, as well as numerous interviews with current and former muftis and other Islamic bureaucrats. Following Douglass North’s theory of institutions, the author distinguishes between the muftiate as an institution and the muftiate as a religious organization. In the first case the muftiate encompasses a set of rules (restrictions) that are both formal (reflected in the laws, charters of spiritual administrations of Muslims) and informal (not reflected in the legislation). Individual Islamic religious organizations (muftiates in a narrow sense) function according to these rules. Basing himself in the theory of the economics of religion, the author treats Russian muftiates as firms competing in the Islamic segment of the religious market. He applies economic principles in analyzing how the muftiates interact with each other, with other religious organizations in Russia, and with the Russian state. 

Монография посвящена деятельности российского востоковеда А.Э. Шмидта (1871–1939). Учителями Шмидта были барон В.Р. Розен, И. Гольдциер, М. де Гуэ, Й. фон Карабачек и другие выдающиеся специалисты по мусульманскому Востоку. Учениками Шмидта себя считали И.Ю. Крачковский, А.Н. Самойлович, В.И. Беляев, П.П. Иванов, Е.М. Пещерева и др. Книгу открывает научная биография А.Э. Шмидта, специально подготовленная для данного издания. В книге представлены уникальные материалы из государственных и частных архивов Санкт-Петербурга, Москвы, Ташкента. Издание адресовано всем, кто интересуется историей российского – советского востоковедения в целом и исламоведения в частности.