The purpose of the research of this topic was to determine a specific synthesis of Russian-European and Eastern Muslim traditions, at a crucial stage of self-identification. In the course of the study of archival written, memoir sources and pre-revolutionary periodicals, historical facts of the diverse manifestation of the socio-cultural transformation of the turn of the XIXth and XXth centuries were revealed, using the example of the Kazakh ummah of the northern regions of the republic. On the basis of archival and memoir sources, for the first time in a generalized form, an attempt is made to structure innovations in the social behavior of Muslims (Kazakhs, Tatars, etc.) under the influence of external circumstances, in particular, introduction to bank lending. The article presents the facts of the Kazakhs using the Hajj to Mecca for educational tours in Europe and the Middle East. The artifacts (monuments of architecture, architecture) of the city of Petropavlovsk, the initiative of the construction of which belonged to local wealthy Muslims, have been studied. The facts of patronage in terms of organizing libraries and paying for the education of children and adolescents in aul schools and colleges, seminaries outside the region are summarized. A comparative analysis of the curricula of Muslim schools of the "old" and "new" method is carried out. When working with the sources, the historical and geographical factor, the peculiarities of ethnic identification and regional urbanism were taken into account.
