:2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny
{{Short description|Islamic conference in the Chechen Republic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox event
|title = Chechnya Conference
International Conference Who are the Ahl al-Sunna?
|date = {{start date|2016|8|25|df=y}}–
{{end date|2016|8|27|df=y}}
|location = Grozny, Chechnya, Russia
|organizers = Shaykh Ahmad Kadyrov
Regional Charitable Fund
Foundation for Chechen Islamic Culture and Education
Tabah Foundation
Muslim Council of Elders{{cite web|url=https://agsiw.org/who-is-a-sunni-chechnya-islamic-conference-opens-window-on-intra-faith-rivalry/
|title=Who Is Sunni?: Chechnya Islamic Conference Opens Window on Intra-Faith Rivalry|date=16 September 2016|publisher=The Arab Gulf States Institute}}{{cite web|url=https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-english.pdf|title=The Concluding Statement of the Chechnya Conference|publisher=chechnyaconference.org}}
|also known as = Grozny Conference
Chechnya Conference
The World Islamic Сonference 'Who are Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah?'
Chechnya anti-Salafi Conference
|participants = Over 200 Muslim scholars-theologians and religious leaders from various Islamic schools of thought from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Kuwait, Sudan, Qatar, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Britain, Russia, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan{{cite news|url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|title=Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference|newspaper=Jamestown |publisher=Jamestown Foundation}}{{cite web|url=https://crescent.icit-digital.org/articles/grozny-conference-challenges-the-saudis|title=Grozny conference challenges the Saudis|publisher=Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kanglatif.com/2016/09/muktamar-ahlussunnah-wal-jamaah-aswaja.html|title=Muktamar Ahlussunnah Wal-Jama'ah (Aswaja) Di Chechnya|publisher=Kanglatif.com}}
|blank1_label = Previous event
|blank1_data = Sufism: Personal Security and State Stability{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/islamic-state-kadyrov-western-plot-wahhabism/26833493.html|title=Islamic State Part Of Western Plot Against Islam, Says Chechen Leader|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=6 February 2015 }}
|blank2_label = Next event
|blank2_data =
| website = [https://chechnyaconference.org/ Official website]
}}
{{Sunni Islam}}
{{Salafi}}
{{multiple image
| align = right
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| image1 = Владимир Путин (08-03-2024) (cropped) (higher res).jpg
| caption1 = Vladimir Putin
| image2 = Рамзан Кадыров (13-03-2023).jpg
| caption2 = Ramzan Kadyrov
}}
The 2016 conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny or shortly Chechnya Conference was convened to define the term "Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah", i.e. who are "the people of Sunnah and majority Muslim community", and oppose Takfiri groups.{{cite news|last1=Dehlvi|first1=Ghulam Rasool|title=Islamic conference in Chechnya: Why Sunnis are disassociating themselves from Salafists|url=http://www.firstpost.com/world/islamic-conference-in-chechnya-why-sunnis-are-disassociating-themselves-from-salafists-2998018.html|accessdate=16 November 2017|work=First Post|date=9 September 2016}} The conference was held in the Chechen Republic capital of Grozny{{cite web|title=مؤتمر الشيشان 2016|url=http://www.tabahfoundation.org/ar/news/view_article/?id=84|website=tabahfoundation.org|access-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913175308/http://www.tabahfoundation.org/ar/news/view_article/?id=84|archive-date=13 September 2017|url-status=dead}} from 25 to 27 August 2016, sponsored by the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, supported by Vladimir Putin,{{cite web |last1=Michael |first1=Barak |title=The Grozny Conference in Chechnya – Is the Salafi Movement a Rotten Fruit of Sunni Islam? |url=https://ict.org.il/the-grozny-conference-in-chechnya-is-the-salafi-movement-a-rotten-fruit-of-sunni-islam/ |publisher=International Institute for Counter-Terrorism |access-date=16 January 2025 |date=9 November 2016 |quote=The Salafi movement in Sunni Islam has experienced a strong jolt recently, not only in terms of a challenge to its worldview but even to its very existence. On August 25–27, an international conference held in Grozny, Chechnya, was attended by over 200 leading Muslim clerics from various Islamic schools of thought, sponsored by the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov (see photo), and with the blessing of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Participants addressed the question, “Who are the people of the Sunna?” and determined that authentic Sunni Islam is not a militant religion that preaches violence, but rather a religion characterized by inclusion and tolerance towards the “other”....According to them, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov sought to glorify the Suffi stream as the leading religious denomination in Russia for two main reasons: Kadyrov’s affiliation with the Suffi stream and Putin’s willingness to support its strengthening as he is a moderate and a traditional enemy of the Salafi stream, which is why he expressed willingness to hold the conference in Grozny and to use it to create an anti-Salafi front.... Kadyrov is described in the official media and on the social network accounts on Salafist operatives as a reveler playboy who is breaking the laws of Islam and as Putin’s Pinocchio.}} and attended by approximately 200 Muslim scholars from 30 countries, especially from Russia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Jordan, etc. at the invitation of Yemeni scholar, Ali al-Jifri.{{cite web|url=https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1808/the-grozny-conference-in-chechnya-is-the-salafi-movement-a-rotten-fruit-of-sunni-islam|title=The Grozny Conference in Chechnya – Is the Salafi Movement a Rotten Fruit of Sunni Islam?|publisher=International Institute for Counter-Terrorism|access-date=6 March 2019|archive-date=7 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307054122/https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1808/the-grozny-conference-in-chechnya-is-the-salafi-movement-a-rotten-fruit-of-sunni-islam|url-status=dead}}
The conference was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the birth of Kadyrov's father, Akhmad Kadyrov, the first President of Chechnya.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/caucasus-report-grozny-fatwa-controversy/27987472.html|title=Analysis: Grozny Fatwa On 'True Believers' Triggers Major Controversy|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=26 September 2016 |last1=Fuller |first1=Liz }}{{cite web|url=https://realnoevremya.com/articles/677|title=At Ramzan's: what is the reason for the Chechnya head gathering Islamic establishment of Russia in Grozny?|publisher=RealnoeVremya.com}}
The conference was notable for defining Sunni Islam in the final communiqué of the conference as including Ash'aris and Maturidis in theology (Aqidah), Hanafis, Shafi'is, Malikis and Hanbalis in jurisprudence (Fiqh), and people of spirituality (Sufis) - but not the Wahhabi or Salafi movements.{{cite news|last1=Cervellera|first1=Bernardo|title=Conference in Grozny: Wahhabism exclusion from the Sunni community provokes Riyadh's wrath|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Conference-in-Grozny:-Wahhabism-exclusion-from-the-Sunni-community-provokes-Riyadh%E2%80%99s-wrath-38502.html|accessdate=16 November 2017|agency=AsiaNews.it|date=9 June 2016}} It condemned Salafism and Wahhabism as "misguided" sects, along with Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic State and others.{{cite web|url=https://islam.in.ua/en/islamic-studies/conference-ulama-grozny-reaction-islamic-world|title=The Conference of Ulama in Grozny: the Reaction of the Islamic World|publisher=islam.in.ua}}
Participants
Over 200 Muslim scholars-theologians and religious leaders from various Islamic schools of thought from 30 countries all over the world, including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Libya, Kuwait, Sudan, Qatar, Iraq, India, Indonesia, Britain, Russia, South Africa, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan.{{cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Conference-in-Grozny:-Wahhabism-exclusion-from-the-Sunni-community-provokes-Riyadh’s-wrath-38502.html|title=Conference in Grozny: Wahhabism exclusion from the Sunni community provokes Riyadh's wrath|publisher=AsiaNews}}{{cite web|url=http://fa.abna24.com/service/europe/archive/2016/09/07/708343/story.html|title=کنفرانس چچن خشم وهابیت را برانگیخت + تصاویر|date=7 September 2016|publisher=AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA)}}
Notable scholars and preachers in attendance included:{{cite web|url=http://maktabah.org/blog/?p=3619|title=Over 100 Sunni scholars declare Wahhabis to be outside mainstream Sunni Islam – Chechnya|date=11 September 2016|publisher=maktabah.org}}
- Ahmed el-Tayeb (Grand Imam of Al-Azhar)
- Shawki Allam (Grand Mufti of Egypt)
- Ali Gomaa (former Grand Mufti of Egypt)
- Ibrahim Salah al-Hudhud (president of al-Azhar University)
- Abdel-Hadi al-Qasabi (chairman of the Supreme Council of Sufi Orders in Egypt){{cite web|url=https://www.alghad.tv/40-عالما-أزهريا-يلحقون-بالطيب-للمشاركة-ف/|title= 40 عالما أزهريا يلحقون بالطيب للمشاركة في مؤتمر "أهل السنة" في الشيشان|date= 25 August 2016|publisher=Alghad TV}}
- Usamah al-Azhari (Egypt)
- Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, Grand Mufti of India{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/islamic-conference-in-chechnya-why-sunnis-are-disassociating-themselves-from-salafists-2998018.html|title = Islamic conference in Chechnya: Why Sunnis are disassociating themselves from Salafists|date = 9 September 2016}}
- Shaikh Anwar Ahmad al Baghdadi
- Muhammad Muneeb-ur-Rehman, Grand Mufti of Pakistan
- Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun (Grand Mufti of Syria)
- Abdel-Fattah al-Bezm (Grand Mufti of Damascus)
- Tawfiq Ramadan al-Bouti, the son of Sheikh Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti (Syria)
- Salah Mezhiev (Grand Mufti of Chechnya)
- Kamil Samigullin (Grand Mufti of Tatarstan)
- Allahshukur Pashazade (Grand Mufti of Caucasus){{cite web|url=https://www.azernews.az/nation/101488.html|title=CMO head joins international conference in Chechnya [ PHOTO]|date=29 August 2016|publisher=AzerNews.az}}
- Abdul Karim Khasawneh (Grand Mufti of Jordan)
- Sa'id Foudah (A Leading Contemporary Kalam Scholar from Jordan)
- Umar bin Hafiz (Yemen)
- Ali al-Jifri (Yemen)
- Saif al-Asri (Yemen)
- Ahmed Abbadi (Secretary-General of the Mohammedia League of Moroccan Ulama)
- Idris al-Fassi al-Fahri (Morocco)
- Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar al-Sharif (Kuwait)
- Hatim al-Awni (Saudi Arabia)
Recommendations of the Conference
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| footer = Defending Aljajeera and Islamic University of Madinah was one of the major recommendations of the conference.
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The conference participants reflected their support for what in Russia is considered “traditional” Islam.{{Cite news|last=Vatchagaev|first=Mairbek|date=22 September 2016|title=Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference|url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514212546/https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|archive-date=14 May 2019|access-date=|newspaper=Jamestown }} Some suggestions came out of the conference, including recommendations to:
- The establishment of a TV channel in Russia to counter Al-Jazeera, and "convey to people a truthful message of Islam and fight against extremism and terrorism."
- The establishment of "a scientific centre in Chechnya to monitor and study contemporary groups... and refute and scientifically criticise extremist thought." The proposed name for the centre is Tabsir (clairvoyance).
- The "return to the schools of great knowledge", such as: (Al-Azhar in Egypt, al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco, and al-Zaytuna in Tunisia, and the Hadramout in Yemen), excluding Saudi religious institutions, particularly the Islamic University of Madinah.
- Scholarships would be provided for those who are interested in studying sharia to counter Saudi funding in this field.
Criticism
The conference evoked a torrent of condemnation and criticism mostly from the Saudi Arabian establishment closely linked to the Saudi Kingdom such as the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars—as well as from the scholars of the Salafi, Wahhabi, and Ikhwani movements—for what they perceived as Russian meddling in regional politics via religion.{{cite web|url=https://www.thecairoreview.com/tahrir-forum/saudi-arabias-struggle-for-sunni-leadership/|title=Saudi Arabia's Struggle for Sunni Leadership|date=11 September 2016|publisher=The Cairo Review of Global Affairs}}{{cite web|url=https://agsiw.org/who-is-a-sunni-chechnya-islamic-conference-opens-window-on-intra-faith-rivalry/|title=Who Is Sunni?: Chechnya Islamic Conference Opens Window on Intra-Faith Rivalry|date=16 September 2016|publisher=The Arab Gulf States Institute}} Twenty-one religious institutions across the world signed a petition of support to Salafis, expressing solidarity with them, emphasizing that the conference participants only represent themselves.{{Cite web|last=Yakubovich|first=Mikhail|date=31 August 2016|title=THE CONFERENCE OF ULAMA IN GROZNY: THE REACTION OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD|url=https://islam.in.ua/en/islamic-studies/conference-ulama-grozny-reaction-islamic-world|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308125805/https://islam.in.ua/en/islamic-studies/conference-ulama-grozny-reaction-islamic-world|archive-date=8 March 2018|access-date=|website= }} Syrian Sufi scholar Hasan al-Dugim condemned the conference as a sham and defended the "Salafi brothers"; arguing that they are closer to Sufis than "Putin's scholars". The conference was also discerned by the noticeable absence of delegates from Turkey.
The International Association of Muslim Scholars, an organization led by Muslim Brotherhood-linked Yusuf al-Qaradawi denounced the conference as "a shameful attempt to sow dissent within the Muslim community." The conference has also been widely criticised for toeing a Russian government line. Prominent Russian religious leaders avoided the conference in protest. The chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Moscow, Ildar Alyautdinov, expressed his disillusionment with the resolution of the conference.{{Cite news|last=Vatchagaev|first=Mairbek|date=22 September 2016|title=Chechnya Hosts International Islamic Conference|url=https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514212546/https://jamestown.org/program/chechnya-hosts-international-islamic-conference/|archive-date=14 May 2019|access-date=|newspaper=Jamestown}}
File:المفتي عبد العزيز آل الشيخ.jpg Abdul Azeez Aal-Shaykh]]
In response to the widespread criticism received in the Islamic World, Al-Azhar publicly distanced itself from the conference and in mid-October sent a high-level delegation led by the senior Azhari scholar, Shaykh Abbas Shouman to Saudi Arabia and reconciled with the Salafi religious establishment, including the Grand Mufti Abdul Azeez Aal-Shaykh.{{Cite web|last=Barak|first=Michael|date=9 November 2016|title=The Grozny Conference in Chechnya – Is the Salafi Movement a Rotten Fruit of Sunni Islam?|url=https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1808/the-grozny-conference-in-chechnya-is-the-salafi-movement-a-rotten-fruit-of-sunni-islam#gsc.tab=0|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307054122/https://www.ict.org.il/Article/1808/the-grozny-conference-in-chechnya-is-the-salafi-movement-a-rotten-fruit-of-sunni-islam|archive-date=7 March 2019|access-date=}}
See also
{{portal|Religion|Islam|Russia}}
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://chechnyaconference.org/ Official Website]
- [https://chechnyaconference.org/material/chechnya-conference-statement-english.pdf Download Concluding Statement in English]
- [http://www.reasonedcomments.org/2016/09/the-first-international-conference.html Grozny Conference: The First International Conference Dedicated To Answering The Question: Who Are The Sunnis?]
- [http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/sunnis-denounce-salafist-takfiri-terror/ Sunni Muslims Distance Themselves From Radical Salafist Muslims] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106100126/http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/sunnis-denounce-salafist-takfiri-terror/ |date=6 November 2018 }}
- [http://www.alhabibali.com/en/news/storm-in-a-teacup-a-statement-on-the-chechnya-conference/ Storm in a Teacup: A Statement on the Chechnya Conference]
- [https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-mufti-defends-fatwa-calls-followers-nontraditional-islam-extremists/28025467.html Chechen Mufti Defends Fatwa That Calls Followers Of Nontraditional Islam 'Extremists']
{{Ash'ari}}
{{Authority control}}