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The early Jadids, especially the ones in the Volga region in the 19th century, have been very eager in advancing the need of "Ijtihad" (interpretation) within Islam that to revitalize Islam by re-establishing and reforming Islamic law and its interpretations to accommodate Islam with modern society. The later Jadids in the early 20th century, however, were more interested in the need of social and political changes in their communities rather than the pure theological aspects of Islam, but they recognized that gaining public support meant that they had to couch their arguments in ways that were not in sharp contrast to local beliefs.

Timur Kocaoglu is professor of International Relations at James Madison College. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies as well as the Turkic languages Coordinator at the College of Arts and Letters at MSU.