This article is devoted to problematizing the research focus of academic literature on Islamic reformers in the Russian empire. Studies of the late imperial period typically devote the most of their attention to modernization. Jadidists-reformers are considered as key protagonists and engines of history. A typical narrative about Jadidists includes several elements: political activity, reforms in education, the flourishing of journalism, the renewal of religion and the "female question." In this article we consider Jadidism as a narrative about backwardness and progress, which is uncritically reproduced in academic literature. Relying on recollections of Gabdulla Bubi, we offer a reconsideration of the framework that is generally used to describe the intellectual history of Muslims in Russia. We classify Bubi's narrative as a language-ideology and place it within the framework of our own "imperial project". We do so to offer an alternative to Jadidim as an explanatory model. Keywords: Islam in Russia, Islamic modernism, Jadidism, imperial project. Работа выполнена при поддержке гранта РФФИ 17-81-01042 а(ц) "Политизация языка религии и сакрализация языка политики во время Гражданской войны". This article is written in the framework of the NWO research program "The Russian Language of Islam" (project no. 360-70-490). Авторы признательны И. В. Стародубровской, А. С. Агаджаняну, В. О. Бобровникову и анонимным рецензентам за полезные замечания и комментарии к этой статье. Бустанов А., Дородных Д. Джадидизм как парадигма в изучении ислама в Российской империи // Государство, религия, церковь в России и за рубежом. 2017. N 3. С. 112-133. Bustanov, Alfrid, Dorodnykh, Daria (2017) "Jadidism as a Paradigm for Studying Islam in the Russian Empire", Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkou' v Rossii i za rubezhom 35(3): 112-133. стр. 112Введение К НАЧАЛУ XX века многомиллионное мусульманское население неравномерно проживало практически во всех регионах Российской империи и имело длительн ... Читать далее