I've recently defended my PhD thesis “Farīd al-dīn ʻAttar Taẕkirat al-awliyāʼ and construction of Sufi tradition in X-XIII centuries”.

Now I am a member of International project dedicated to "Life-writing" in Modern Iran and my special within this topic is exemplary lives of the religious authorities with regard to the reinterpretation of martyrdom, Sufi and Shi'a symbols and practices in the process of "life-writing".

I'm also taking part in the HSE University project "Power and Authority in the Near East" dedicated to interdisciplinary study of the religious legitimacy in ancient and medieval Near Eastern societies

As a scholar of Islam and Sufism I'm teaching several courses on this topics for undergraduate students: Religions of Iran, Sufism in Iran, History of Iran, History of the Middle East

I'm also making an effort in the dissemination of knowledge about Iran and Islam, delivering public lectures and making public appearances on Russian radio and TV

I Put on my Khirqah to Become a Sufi: The Malāmatiyya Movement and the Construction of Sufi History in the Writings of the 10 – 13 Centuries (In Russian)	Islamology. Vol. 10 (№1), 2020. Pp. 10–28.
Sufi Metaphysics of Love and Beauty in Ruzbihan Baqli’s “The Jasmine of Lovers”	Journal of Russian State University for the Humanities. Oriental Studies series, №3. Moscow, 2015. Pp. 66–73.
His speeches about the path are numerous: functions of “Remembrance of Jaʻfar Sadiq” in the “Remembrances of God’s friends” of Farid al-Din ʻAttar (in Russian)	Journal of Russian State University for the Humanities. Oriental Studies series, №3(12). Moscow, 2016. Pp. 9–25.
“You didn’t recognize the Quran as created”: Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (in Russian)	Shagi/Steps. Journal of the School of Advanced Studies in the Humanities V.2, №2-3. Moscow, 2016. Pp. 221–228 (Scopus).
Junayd Baghdadi: “The Peacock of the Learned” and “The Sultan of the Realized” (in Russian)	(With N. Chalisova, E. Nikitenko, L. Lahuty, T. Zaglubotskaya) Ya evaṃ veda... In memory of Vladimir Romanov. Moscow, 2016. Pp. 381–439.
“The sword of Sunna and the beauty of the Path”: Jaʻfar Sadiq in Sufi hagiography (in Russian)	Shagi/Steps. Journal of the School of Advanced Studies in the Humanities V.4, №1. Moscow, 2018. Pp. 165–174 (Scopus).

Persian Sufism, Sufi Hagiography, Mystical and Ascetical Movements in Islam, Martyrdom in Shi'a Islam, Authority in Classical and Modern Islamic societies

Alontsev_Maxim_CV_80b2ecb675edbb9c9c9abc86dc883776.pdf

Senior Lecturer, National Research University Higher School of Economics