After the collapse of the Soviet Union, religion and Islamic education were in high demand in the former republics in the North Caucasus. The early post-Soviet period saw the chaotic emergence of many Islamic educational institutions. However, the Islamic regions of Russia are facing a huge problem of radicalisation of ordinary Muslims. The North Caucasus remains a region torn by conflicts which have only been aggravated since Russian air force operations in Syria. These trends make this the most influential region in terms of the possible transformation of the Islamic education system. In the absence of a proposal from the state, Islamic education may be taken over by local semi-legal schools. The system of Islamic education which is currently being revived and institutionalised could potentially be a solution to the problem of youth radicalisation, but the steps being taken are often not aligned with real needs. In this paper, two dimensions of Islamic education system development can be distinguished. The first, short-term, is associated with the modernization of the teaching format itself towards the addition of a pool of general humanities subjects and disciplines that encourage students to develop skills in critical thinking and independent interpretation of texts. As for the long-term prospects, it would be possible to turn to the experience of the world’s leading religious educational centres and build the branding of the Russian education system with reference to them.
